Predestined
by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10
Summary: From the moment of his birth, he'd been both blessed and cursed with the powers of a demon. The challenge became too difficult and he didn't succeed. But as fate has it, Naruto was supposed to be powerful in both lives. Ichigo is his mentor in this one.
1. Prologue

I don't own Naruto or Bleach.

Predestined – Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

A/N: My first cross-over so please be kind!

Summary - From the moment of his birth, he'd been both blessed and cursed with the powers of a demon. The challenge became too difficult and he didn't succeed. But as fate has it, Naruto was supposed to be powerful in both lives. Ichigo is his mentor in this one.

:: oOo :: Prologue :: oOo ::

It was dark and eerie. No light succeeded in finding him.

The type of atmosphere that the place brought, reminded Naruto of the many times that he'd had to look into his subconscious and negotiate with Kurama.

It usually sent shivers all over him, but he didn't feel anything this time. Not only did this worry the ex- jinchūriki but it frightened him too. He'd rather be here with the demon than alone.

He took a step forward, then another until he was running in the darkness with no destination in mind. This reminded him of the times when he'd tried to bring Sasuke back. It was like this, maybe not as scary but worse in the factor of emotions. He'd felt betrayed then but now he felt….

Just then, something collided with his head.

"Ouch!" He fell backwards, but didn't hit the ground, or anything in the least. It was almost like falling off a cliff, into a bottomless pit.

So what had he been walking – or running – on this whole time? And what was it that he'd hit? Naruto frowned, realising that he couldn't actually remember.

The blonde haired teenager was brought back into reality when his whole body continued to get vacuumed further into the darkness without fail. This was bad.

Never in his life had he been in this situation.

If this wasn't some sort of jutsu, then he could be in the underworld, and therefore already dead.

The nine-tailed demon fox wasn't here either, and that could possibly mean the end of the Hidden Leaf Village.

There was a high chance that if he didn't do anything now, he'd be in a lot more trouble later.

So this left Naruto with only one option left. He'd use the power of brute force to somehow climb his way back up. His hopes withered when he discovered that there was nothing to grip onto after five minutes of flapping his arms like an idiot.

Well there was nothing he could do about this, so Naruto quickly came to a logical conclusion. He'd just have to fall in style until something new came up.

He managed to intertwine his hands and hook them behind his head, then prop his left leg over the other.

Never in his life had he ever thought of giving up, but there was an exception: He didn't even know whether or not he was still alive. That or he was trapped in a powerful jutsu consisting of a dark bottomless sphere.

Wait. Why does it have to be a sphere? If it was bottomless, then wouldn't it just be a… shape with no sides?

His thoughts seemed to be getting even more bizarre as seconds passed, a possible effect of the 'jutsu' or simply time.

His thoughts soon led him to think of his friends back at the village, and if this was happening to them too. He couldn't bear to think of it.

Then suddenly, without warning, he stopped moving completely and his feet came into contact with a firm structure. There wasn't anything that could be called a floor to see, but some sort of force was holding him.

Looking around, he still saw nothing else apart from a light, ghostly mist which circled around his footing area. This didn't seem to bother him, although he was curious.

It was silent for a few more moments, with Naruto staring down the new mysterious place, simply trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Then he heard it.

The sound of movement was almost inaudible. But he very narrowly caught onto it with his sensitive ears.

It was like the sound of a soft flutter of a creature, and sure enough only a few inches away from him was a butterfly with wide and elegant, violet wings.

Before he could think of doing anything, it disappeared. And in exchange something else was in its place.

Naruto didn't know what to make out of this. So he was dead after all. Figures. He'd have to visit Maboroshi Kisuke – (A/N: The man who died twice) – sometime then. And of course his sensei the prevy sage and the fourth Hokage and his mother.

A spirit stood before him. It looked like a boy, the same age as him but taller and with vibrant orange hair.

Naruto grinned and with this he received a confused expression from the ghost.

"Yo I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Nice to meet you!"

The orange haired boy frowned by furrowing his eye brows. The stealthy sword that was wrapped in bandages and strapped to his back suddenly disappeared. It then reappeared in a semi second inches away from a frightened Naruto's head, hilt first.

"Hey man I didn't mean to provoke you! – " Naruto quickly exclaimed, with a hand scratching the back of his neck and a bed of sweat building up on his fore head.

"I'm not here to have small talk now just stop your yapping and stay still. This'll only take a moment."

He slowly drew back the weapon, and before he could pound it into the blonde's head, Naruto raised a shaky hand.

The spirit being frowned but stopped anyway.

"W-will you at least tell me your name before you – " The ex- jinchūriki nervously began, trying to buy time. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." He said, knowing that he probably wouldn't see Naruto again and just wanted this over with. He did have an actual life with school and homework other than soul reaper duties to see to.

"Ichigo… huh – " There was a blurr of so many different colours, that Naruto couldn't identify a single one out of the hundreds.

_That bastard! _He thought, both angry at himself and this Ichigo. What was going on?

_Another jutsu? _He thought, surprised that Madara had gone so far as to torture him in the afterlife too.

Fortunately for Naruto, when he opened his eyes, he was met with a new world. A new world he'd soon learn to call The Soul Society.


	2. Encounter! Kenpachi and Yachiru

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

**Encounter! Kenpachi and Yachiru**

Disclaimer: **I** don't own Naruto or Bleach but **I **own the ideas for my story. (';

**Chapter One**

Naruto opened his eyes to see that he was sprawled in an awkward position on the ground. Except he didn't quite recognise his whereabouts. Yes, there was a blue sky where it should be but it was accompanied by an unfamiliar glow. There were clouds as well but for some reason, they seemed unexplainably distant to his eyes. Naruto could also see a trio of little chicks, circling over his head and only then did he realise that he felt really dizzy.

'_Where am I?' _He thought, starting to get worried. Sweat began to roll down his face in cascades. _'And where is Ichi – ermm…. Ichi….. Ichico?...Ichibo?...Ichi – Ichitoe?' _

A confused expression weaved its way onto Naruto's face as he began to stand up and rub the back of his head even more confused. _'What is this …?' _He thought suddenly.

He was standing in the middle of a wide and radiant path with towering white walls on either side. Palace-like mansions were everywhere but the one which caught Naruto's eye was a supreme, god-like mansion the size of the Hokage tower back at Konoha.

The mansion had a roof completely made out of gold and was immaculate, no faults at all. Even the hedges were perfectly cut! (A/N: Can anyone guess which noble lives here? Hint: Rukia's nii-san. :) )

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, but he was quickly snapped out of his trance when something pulled at his jacket sleeve.

'_Is this really happening?...or am I hallucinating?'_ Naruto had his doubts but didn't think one thing of it. Because there, peering in front of him….was Sakura.

Immediately, Naruto flung his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Oh Sakura… I thought I'd lost you there!" But in response, he only received a high pitched scream of protest.

"….S-Sakura?" When Naruto finally let go, and saw who it'd really been, he cowered back in shock and disgust.

"You? You're not Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed with an accusing finger pointed.

It was a little girl who looked about six and had bright – almost glowing – pink hair. She had rosy cheeks and a large grin. Naruto had to admit, she did look kinda cute, but not in that way.

Before he could begin to question what had just happened, she smiled even wider and mouthed the words: Look-behind-you.

Naruto realised that she wasn't deceiving him, when he saw that his shadow was getting bigger and blukier. As he shakily swerved around, a husky voice shouted, "HEY YOU!"

Naruto then heard a series of bell jingles, and soon realised that he was lying on the ground with an eroded blade directed at his throat.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Shouted a clearly provoked person. Naruto was shaking and sweating more than ever now; but not just because he was slightly frightened, but also because there was an overwhelming pressure suffocating him.

Naruto managed to open one eye and immediately took in the features of his attacker. His tan face was covered in scars (most of them seemed to be caused by another's blade). His teeth were all uneven and some curved in. He wore a torn black kimono just like the pink-haired girl had, except there as a white cloak hanging over his shoulders. His dark hair was spiked with individual bells on the ends.

"….h – hey … I – I…." Naruto tried, but the words weren't coming out properly. For the first time ever, the blonde ex-jinchūriki was at loss for words. Or more specifically, he was unable to speak. The overwhelming sensation which had filled the air was choking him.

"SPEAK UP BOY!" Growled the man, a menacing expression over his face. Roughly, he grabbed Naruto by the collar, and lifted him up so that they were face to face.

"I-I don't understand!" Naruto shot back at the man who was now snarling at him. He was speaking the truth, but his attacker didn't seem too convinced unfortunately.

"_What is this big dude's deal?" _Naruto thought angrily, starting to get really irritated. Naruto was not aware of what he'd done to deserve all this.

Still being held in mid-air and wincing, Naruto thought he heard giggling. Then suddenly, a small pink head popped up from behind the man who was captivating him.

"Kenny, let him go!" Squealed the pink-haired girl from before, sticking a tongue out at him. "Y-yeah…! " Naruto muttered in agreement, before adding, "And where the hell did you come from? Aren't you scared?" –only to be quickly silenced when the man tightened his grip around his neck.

"Be quiet Yachiru! This boy ought'ta know his place around here!" Howled the man, ignoring Yachiru as she played happily with the bells in his hair.

Naruto was currently shivering with a distraught look of agony and suffering as the husky man finally let go of him, seeming to have listened to Yachiru after all.

"Return to your squad immediately boy. Lay a finger on Yachiru again and I'll show you no mercy!" Kenpachi then turned around with Yachiru clinging to his back and waving at Naruto, before silencing her and stealthily picking up his sword from the ground and holding it over his other shoulder.

"Byebye booboo!" Squealed the little pink-haired girl, still grinning and frantically waving at Naruto despite the aggravated man's efforts to silence her.

He turned slightly to give Naruto one last menacing glance before disappearing. Naruto's astonished and unbelieving eyes couldn't digest what had just happened.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Naruto wailed, starting to get annoyed by how bizarre things were turning out.

"Is this for real? Get back to my squaaaaaaaaaad? I don't have a squad, dammit! Where I am! And just when I thought I'd be reunited with Sakura, I get a physicopathic six year old and a crazy pirate guy! Oh man…. – "

Suddenly, Naruto stopped his complaining when he sensed someone else's presence drawing closer. He couldn't quite understand or come to terms with this new ability he was beginning to develop. It was like a sixth sense.

But Naruto was surprised when he realised that this feeling wasn't new since he'd been thrown into this strange place. He'd felt it when Kenpachi was there, except it was more intense and suffocating. But whatever it was that he could sense now, was milder, gentler, almost like it was being restrained.

He stood up from the ground for the second time that day, to be met by the white towering walls of the paths and unfamiliar buildings around him once again.

Naruto still didn't understand what was happening, when suddenly, he heard something. The source of all his hope was coming.

"Hey Rukia, did you see Kenpachi just?" Says a familiar voice in the distance, "He looked really pissed off about something." Following this was laughter, then a feminine voice says, "I wonder who set him off this time! The last I heard was when Ikkaku grabbed onto Yachiru's arm, to keep her from escaping with his zanpakuto! He wouldn't talk to anyone for weeks after Captain Zaraki dealt with him…"

Naruto's ear was pressed against the towering walls, still trying to ease drop on their conversation.

But even in a completely different world, Naruto was still as stupid as ever. A brief and purposeful grunt behind was what made him turn around indignantly.

There, standing tall with the same flaring orange hair and a large grin on his face, was Ichigo Kurosaki. He seemed much calmer and at ease than he'd been the last time he and Naruto had encountered. Maybe it was because his girlfriend was there too?

She was a short girl with jet black hair which curved around her face; she also wore the same black kimono as Ichigo and she was grinning too.

"_A black kimono again?" _Naruto mused, beginning to piece the puzzle together. _"Does it mean anything?... huh, my brain needs to rest ya'know! Believe it!" _He quickly dismissed the thoughts as a torturous headache bit away at his brain.

"You lost?" Ichigo asked, raising an eye brow.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Look here Ichigo-teme! You've got some questions to answer for me, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, determined not to let Ichigo go so easily now.

"First of all, why do you kimono people keep popping out from nowhere? It's really confusing, cuz one minute you're just standing there – "

Naruto stopped his long speech when he realised that he was alone again. Ichigo and his girlfriend were nowhere to be seen. Just when Naruto had found his only hope, someone he thought he knew in this crazy place. Wasn't he just bound to end up losing him again?

Konoha's number one ninja had had enough. His clenched hands balled into fists and his exasperated expression darkened. A twisted thought crossed his mind:

"_Now seems like the right time to start some trouble making! Ninja style!" _He jumped high in the air with a fist punching up into the sky, before leaping from mansion to mansion with a huge grin, both menacing and gleeful plastered in place.

Something smells fishy? Is Naruto up to no good again? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!

**A/N: Thank you Dragonblaze66 for reviewing the previous chapter & to those who added my story to their favourites! Byebye!**


	3. A New Arrival!

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I don't own Naruto or Bleach. But I do own this story & the ideas in it!

**A/N: **I've picked up the story in this chapter and so there'll be some action, comedy, introduction to other characters and, of course, Naruto style mayhem!

Also, just in case anyone gets confused, I've made a few changes. The first chapter is now the Prologue. The previous chapter is now Chapter One. And finally, this chapter is a guessable Chapter Two.

**:: oOo :: Chapter Two :: oOo::**

"A hollow?" Said Ichigo whilst he hurriedly flash stepped over the Seireitei with Rukia close by. "Where?"

Rukia looked at Ichigo for a moment, sending him both a confused and serious expression.

"I don't know….. exactly," Rukia began, but how was she supposed to tell Ichigo that she'd secretly hoped he would have sensed the hollow by now too?

"….it's hard to say…. Sorry we had to leave that peculiar soul back there. You seemed to already know him?"

Ichigo simply nodded and said, "We better catch that hollow quickly then; I want to go back to him. I think his name is Naruto or something but there's something I need to ask him. His spiritual pressure seemed …. Well there was just something that bugged me, I suppose."

Ichigo furrowed his eye brows in deep concentration, trying not to think about it too much and focus on the task at hand instead.

Rukia decided not to push with the matter any further and resumed trying to detect the hollow again.

They'd flash stepped for what felt like ages until an ear splintering roar pierced the silence around them. They immediately stopped in mid-air and looked in the direction they'd heard it.

"There!" Rukia pointed towards squad 12's barracks, also known as Captain Kurotsuchi's experimenting lab. It was one of the most remote and isolated barracks in Soul Society. It was also not surprising that there was a hollow wandering around his squad's barracks. It was probably one of his test subjects which had been lucky enough to escape.

"Let's get this over with."

"….Yeah."

They both unleashed their zanpakuto's in one swift movement. Ichigo was by the hollow's side in a split second, and before it could even react, Rukia summoned Sode no Shirayuki's first dance, and directed the deadly ice to the hollow's clawed feet. It couldn't move at all, making Ichigo's job easy.

His zanpakuto sliced through the hollow's white mask and immediately, it disintegrated leaving behind a bright glow and an unearthly mist.

Ichigo quickly returned his zanpakuto to its strap over his shoulder and disappeared without a moment's hesitation….

"…. He must be off to see Naruto. I wonder what it was he wanted to ask him…" Rukia mused.

**:: oOo ::**

"Now where do I start?" Naruto pondered excitedly. He had hundreds of pranks in mind that he could pull, but the tricky part was where to start of course.

In the distance was a beautiful sunset, giving the cloudless sky a soft orange shade. Noticing this made Naruto think of when he was back at home in Konoha. There was always lovely sunsets there, especially the memorable ones he'd shared with his team after a long day of training….

"…_. And then after that, I'd tease Sasuke-teme a bit and probably ask him and Sakura if they wanted to join me for some ramen! ...ooohh, I could really use some ramen right now! Mmmm…"_

An unsatisfied growl erupted from Naruto's stomach then; maybe he'd need to put his plans on trouble making at bay. It was getting late and he was hungry and still didn't know what was going on or why he was in this strange world.

"…_. Talk about being unattended to! Come to think of it, my life was like that before I ended up here."_ He thought miserably, then decided to forget his life before these recent change of events. All he cared about now was finding his purpose here… and of course food, maybe miso ramen if he was lucky.

Scowling, Naruto trudged off to nowhere in particular, simply following the gleaming white paths and staying enclosed within the maze-like walls.

"OW!" Naruto howled when something collided with his head. He'd been walking aimlessly for a while now, and had forgotten to check where he was going.

"S-Sorry!" A voice apologized suddenly, "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…. Say, you don't look like you're from around here…. Can I know your name?"

Naruto stopped petting his rather sore head and looked up.

"Ohhhhhh…" Dreamily, Naruto stared at the person in front of him. It's a young lady with long, shining hair the colour of the sunset and oceanic blue eyes, the colour of glistering waves. She too wore a black kimono – just like everyone else that Naruto had met so far, and yet this still didn't trigger his suspicion – except she wore a band with symbols imprinted on it around her right arm.

"Hey! Quit staring!" She teased, chuckling softly, "I get that enough from other soul reapers…."

Naruto abruptly snapped out of his perverted thoughts and captivation of her beauty. "A Soul …reaper?" Naruto thought aloud, "Pretty lady, what the heck is a 'Soul reaper'? Is it me or does everyone I meet in this world seem to be crazy?"

The lady froze. She looked Naruto in the eye for a long moment, studying him as a person and then the technical stuff such as his enormous amount of spiritual pressure.

"You mean….. are you sure?" She uttered, bewildered. "Because you have a great amount of spiritual pressure."

Naruto frowned, not understanding her. "No." He simply replied. "Now can you tell me why I'm here?"

Rangiku (as you probably might have guessed) opened her mouth, about to argue, but then she changed her mind and decided to leave it wide open. She might have swallowed the odd fly or two if she hadn't quickly snapped it shut again.

"You're coming with me. I'm going to take you to my captain. He can probably answer that for you better than I can. Don't worry kid, this may sound very strange but, I think you'll find your purpose here. Not many soul's in the North Rukongai district get the opportunity to become a shinigami. Your one lucky kid! Now come follow me!"

Naruto didn't protest, he just followed the pretty lady who had by chance, stumbled across him in a place called 'The North Rukongai district' and was about to offer him his purpose in this heavenly place.

Naruto grinned widely, realizing how true her words had been;

"…_.A lucky kid? Huh, well maybe she is right! Maybe I can finally start a whole brand new life here! A fresh new start! There's no nine-tailed fox to destroy my chances this time! I'll never forget this district!… The North….ermmm….the North Ru– Rukongimo district?...The North… ummm….The North Ru–"_

**:: oOo ::**

It was around nightfall when Naruto and Rangiku finally arrived at the tenth squad barracks.

Rangiku turned to Naruto and asked, "What's ya name kid? I'm Rangiku by the way! ….. I don't know if I should say this really, but I seem to be the type who stumbles across prodigies often…. and I'm pretty certain your prodigy material!" She chuckled nervously, before hesitantly lifting up a hand to push open the door.

Maybe the sudden nervousness came from having to face her captain, especially after she'd neglected all that paperwork in his office and sneaked out to her former district instead. How was she supposed to tell Toshiro that she'd had to mysteriously leave while he 'd been gone, before she could begin the paperwork and then explain to him how she'd, by chance, stumbled across Naruto while she'd for some reason been wondering around the Rukongai district?

She'd need one hell of an excuse, or maybe there'd be a miracle and her captain would be kind enough to understand her need to stay as far as possible, from boring old work!

"Oh I'm Naruto!" Naruto responded, "You're such a kind lady, Rangiku-san!"

"Thank you Naruto-kun! There's really no need for that sorta honorific! You make me feel like an old hag like my captain is!" She teased, but her cheerful expression darkened as soon as they got inside…

Naruto gawped as he stepped inside an office that seemed to be as big as lady Tsunade's had been in Konoha, except much tidier. On interior sides of the room were huge, polished bookcases filled with old and boring looking books.

At the very back was a grand, chestnut coloured desk and Naruto could just make out a small figure sitting stiffly and impatiently behind it.

As they silently walked along marble floor, Naruto noticed that Rangiku was shaking slightly. She was walking in front of him, with her golden hair flying with her as she took each step. When Naruto got a better view of the person at the desk, he shuddered….

**A/N: Woohoo! I hope you all liked this chapter! I also hope that no one found it too boring because I know I did! And that's exactly why I'll try to make the next chapter a lil' more exciting! The truth shall be revealed! Thanks for reading! **


	4. Ice Demons and War

**Ice Demons and War**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach, I only own the ideas for my story!**

**A/N: My gravest apologies for this late update, please forgive me. Well this'll be the longest chapter so far and I hope you all ENJOY!**

**:: oOo :: Chapter Three :: oOo ::**

The office's marble floor was suddenly caked in frost, leaving a ghostly mist everywhere. Naruto had to grit his teeth fiercely just to suppress his violent shivering. It was like the room had dropped 20 degrees in temperature.

"_What the? A genjutsu?"_ Naruto thought in dismay. He knew that such a sudden and drastic change in temperature was not natural. He could only conclude that it was a genjutsu from his knowledge as a ninja.

He turned to Rangiku in front of him and noticed that she'd stopped moving. Either her legs were frozen to the ground or she saw the unnatural things happening around them as a threat.

"Stay back, Naruto." She told him, resting a hand on the hilt of her katana. It was only then that Naruto noticed she even had a sword.

Naruto nodded, trusting that Rangiku knew what she was doing because he sure didn't.

"Roar Haineko" She muttered quietly. At that moment, her blade parted into millions of tiny crystals and they spiralled around the ground, chasing away the frosty mist at their feet. The warmth suddenly flowed back into the office and returned feeling to Naruto's numb feet.

"Wow…" He gasped. "Can you teach me that?" He asked, assuming that what she'd performed was some sort of cool jutsu.

Rangiku ignored Naruto and focused her eyes on the desk in front of them.

After realising that Rangiku wasn't going to answer him, Naruto finally noticed something. It was that same sensation from when he'd encountered Ichigo and Kenpachi. This time, it felt threatening and ….

"Rangiku what's this feeling?" Naruto asked curiously. He was beginning to realise that it wasn't his senses going berserk – something was causing it. Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on how he managed to pick up this sixth sense of his. This feeling…he hadn't encountered it in his life in the ninja world, but in this new world, it was nearly everywhere.

"That is my Captain's Spiritual Pressure. Naruto I may have to explain this all to you a little later. For the time being we must focus on pulling this all off. I don't think my Captain is in a good mood…."

As Rangiku took a step forward someone entered the room. No, Naruto had been wrong in assuming that it would be anything close to a person.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

What Naruto saw was a demon nearly as scary as the nine-tailed-fox. It was an ice dragon with immaculate scales emitting an ominous glow almost powerful enough to send Naruto in a trance by looking at it. The creature had blood red eyes full of hate and resent, again, reminding Naruto of Kurama. Even Madara Uchiha. Even those who had looked upon him with hate when he was a child, it was that same hatred.

Rangiku had already jumped in front of Naruto and was blocking the creature from harming him.

"Captain, please listen! I apologise for coming here so late, but I have an urgent request." Rangiku said hurriedly, trying to talk some sense into her captain. No reply came from behind the desk.

Metal clashed with teeth as Rangiku tried to keep the heavenly creature away. Naruto just couldn't take it a moment longer, wasn't he supposed to be fighting alongside her? Surely such a pretty face wouldn't be able to defeat this powerful demon? Rangiku needed assistance so Naruto wasn't going to just stand there and watch.

Without thinking, Naruto jumped out from behind a struggling Rangiku and charged at the monster. He didn't have any weapons other than his own fists so they'd just have to do.

"_I may be able to do it if I use all my strength!" _Naruto thought desperately, but something just didn't feel right.

The dragon swooped down as fast as lightening towards Naruto and it opened its mouth. Naruto had half expected fire to pour out, but instead it was the complete opposite. He narrowly managed to dodge the thick blast of ice which the creature struck at him by ducking out of harm's way.

Naruto crashed into one of the book cases with a loud _thud _as he dived away once again when the ice dragon swooped down at him ready to deliver one more attack.

As it swerved around like a serpent, Naruto took advantage of the opening and charged it from behind. If he was just quick enough….

"What are you doing!" Rangiku shouted from the other side of the room. It looked like she was about to go over and stop him, but Naruto had already engaged in combat with the summoning. The type of 'sensation' it radiated felt much harsher close up.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Naruto bellowed as his fist collided with the creature's ice jaw. Moments later, the impact of the collision sent Naruto flying and caused the dragon summoning to howl in pain.

"Gotcha!" Rangiku declared as she caught Naruto just as he was about to hit the ground.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" With one last anguished roar, Hyorinmaru flew upwards as fast as lightening and disappeared beyond through the office ceiling and back into the heavens above. The dark sky outside lit up for only a few seconds then returned to its original shade of black as the creature departed.

"It's gone." Rangiku sighed in relief. She looked at the barely conscious soul in her arms happily.

"You were very brave back there, Naruto!" She congratulated him with a dazzling wink.

"You really think?" Naruto asked, quickly regaining consciousness and feeling suddenly timid.

"Of course!" Rangiku exclaimed with a Who-Else-Would-It-Be-Duh face. "Not even high ranking Soul Reapers would have the guts to face off Hyorinmaru like you did! Let alone beat him!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly and flashed a proud grin.

"You really are something else Naruto-kun!" Rangiku was bubbling with glee. "After my Captain just saw that fight, It'll be impossible for him to turn you down now!" She declared confidently.

"Hey, Rangi–"

Suddenly, there was a disturbing sound from behind the office desk. Naruto stopped in midsentence to look up. It was like the sound of chalk against a blackboard.

"Rangiku. Is…that your captain?"

Standing behind the desk was what looked like a young boy. His hair was silver like Kakashi-sensei's but brighter and his eyes were a mysterious blue. His expression was bitter and somewhat intimidating regardless of his height.

But something wasn't right.

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as he noticed numerous crack marks all over Toshiro's form. Moment by moment, the cracks widened and pierced every inch of him.

"_No way…"_ Thought Naruto in disbelief. Naruto's eyes wondered over to Rangiku next to him for reassurance for what he was witnessing, but her expression was unreadable.

Without warning, the boy behind the desk shattered like glass and disappeared.

"I should have known." Naruto's throat went dry in shock at how acrid Rangiku's voice had sounded.

Rangiku sweat dropped. _"I should have known! That damn ice illusion…but it still doesn't explain why Hyorinmaru was here. Was it really necessary for Toshiro to have summoned his zanpakuto, even if it was to guard his office? What dark secret could he be hiding from everyone? I'll have to question Toshiro about that the next time I see him. Where is he now? A Captains meeting?" _Rangiku bit her lip befuddled.

"….Known what?" Naruto managed, clearly still shocked at what he'd witnessed.

"_Why does Rangiku look so…. Calm? Her captain just…shattered like glass!"_

She grabbed Naruto's hand and led him out of the office and they were walking through some unfamiliar corridors which Naruto didn't care to acknowledge. There were other pressing matters captivating his interest.

"What you saw was Captain Hitsugaya's ice illusion technique, and his Zanpakuto summoning. That was not my real Captain you saw back there. Now listen carefully. Since paying a visit to my Captain didn't work out very well, I'll be the one to explain everything to you. Got that?"

Naruto nodded his blonde head, signing it off as another bizarre jutsu, easily shaking it off.

"What's a Zanpakuto Rangiku?" He asked curiously. He tilted his head as they came to the end of the corridor where there was an arch for the exit.

"A zanpakuto is the weapon Soul Reaper's use. They're like unique swords that are connected to a Shinigami's soul. You'll know what I mean when you awaken yours. Don't worry. Soon you'll have a zanpakuto of your own! Just you wait!"

"Cool!"

They stopped in front of a grand looking mansion called 'Rangiku's heavenly home'. It was decorated from top to bottom with lanterns of all colours. Hanging over the door was a lilac lantern which did indeed give her door a heavenly glow.

"Is this your home?" Naruto asked whilst paralysed in awe.

Rangiku turned to him with a delighted grin plastered in place.

"Sure is! Say, Naruto-kun…how would you like to stay at my quarters? Or at least until I confront my captain tomorrow! It'll be so fun! Do you drink sake? I've got a huge secret stash hidden here! Blah blah blah…."

Naruto and Rangiku spent the majority of the night chatting about shopping and ramen and even about Naruto's life before he entered this new realm. Rangiku was very understanding and even promised Naruto that she'd take him around some of the districts where souls live and help him search for his parents and his pervy sensei.

"You're the best Rangiku-chan!" Naruto announced, pointing a finger at her. He was wearing his pyjamas now and was holding a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. They'd decided to settle on something much lighter and soothing than sake for the night.

"I know right!" She giggled happily in her own little world. "You're just like the little brother I never had!" She suddenly wrapped Naruto in a friendly embrace earning her a blushing blonde.

"Y-yeah…Believe it!" Naruto said nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"What's wrong?" Rangiku asked with a flicker of confusion in her eyes. She could already read Naruto very well in all the time they'd spent together. She knew there was something bothering him.

"It's just that I still have no idea what Spiritual Pressure is. You mentioned it back at the office but…." Naruto trailed off doubtfully.

"Ohhh yeahhhh! Spiritual pressure….that's something only Shinigami and very few souls possess. It's like a sensation that reflects the power and sometimes personality of a Soul Reaper. Now wait a sec,"

Rangiku furrowed her eyebrows and concentration took over her expression.

Suddenly, Naruto sensed that familiar pressure, it felt like a soft wind gently leaking into the room. It made Naruto feel bubbly and relaxed.

"Do'ya feel that? It's my Spiritual Pressure!"

"I get it now!" Naruto breathed, exhilarated.

"Now it's nearly midnight Naruto-kun! We've got a big day tomorrow and even a soul like you will need all the sleep in the world! Goodnight!" She murmured sleepily from her couch.

"Goodnight Rangiku." Naruto whispered softly and his eyelids dropped shut.

**:: Elsewhere ::**

The captains of the Soul Society stood in two opposing lines as still as monuments. Silence had engulfed the enormous room they used to hold their meetings. They all remained unmoving and mute as Head Captain Yamamoto watched them with a displeased expression. After another few moments he nodded briefly and it was like all the tension had melted away in the room.

"There has been an alarming disturbance in the world of the living." He began slowly, intent on making sure that they all understood what he was about to say.

"It concerns a place called the 'Five Great Shinobi Nations'." Yamamoto paused and allowed time for the statement to sink in. Shunsui lifted up his hat, seeming to have woken up. It was as if what Captain Yamamoto had said, clicked somewhere in his mind.

It had had the same effect on captains Unahana and Ukitake. However the other six captains – (not including Kaname, Gin or Aizen) – simply listened on curiously.

Yamamoto seemed amused by their reactions.

"It is a place known to hold humans with supernatural abilities. They possess something called 'Chakra'. It is similar to what we have – Spiritual Pressure. As is the way they use it. But they are not immortal of course and they live similar lives to humans."

The captains nodded with Mayuri casting a fascinated look in his eye and Toshiro seeming disturbed.

"As I was saying," Yamamoto continued but Toshiro interrupted him. "My deepest apologies, Head Captain-sama; please may I be excused…." Toshiro said suddenly.

"Why? What could be so urgent that you must interrupt this meeting and leave before your well informed?" Yamamoto barked, clearly enraged.

"Earlier I casted an ice illusion of myself in my office, but I can sense that it's been tampered with and destroyed somehow. I must go back and examine the cause, Head Captain-sama. It is of utmost importance…"

"Very well," Yamamoto said tiredly, "Come back to my office later and I will tell you what you missed." He looked like he'd given up on chasing after his fellow commanders of late.

"Thank you." Toshiro flash stepped out of the meeting hall urgently. To a human, it would have appeared like Toshiro had flickered away completely. All the other Captains exchanged anxious expressions, whereas others just forgot what had happened immediately.

"Hey Ukitake!" Shunsui hissed sneakily to his friend, "Did you notice young Toshiro didn't have his zanpakuto with him?"

Ukitake nodded wearily to the man next to him.

"Strange" He stated.

"As I was saying," Yamamoto resumed with a brief grunt, silencing the Captains. "Quite recently there was a war within the Shinobi nations. The details of the cause of the war are unknown, but many lives are being lost and therefore disturbing the balance. I must send only one strong Soul Reaper down there to stop the war."

Silence fell over the room.

"I only know one guy who'd be up to taking on that task," Captain Soi Fon muttered darkly then scowled.

All the Captains exchanged fierce glances, knowing who it would be. They all wanted to go down to this fascinating 'Shinobi World' and engage in combat with the 'Chakra Wielding' ninjas.

"Then it is decided." Yamamoto announced. All the Captain's began to exchange shocked and enraged expressions, even Byakuya.

"Why send him–" Kenpachi began, sneering, but before he could finish protesting, someone burst into the meeting room.

No, _he_ was the one who bursts in.

"Did ya miss me?" Smirked a well known Soul Reaper to the Captains and Yamamoto.

Kenpachi chuckled, amused. "When'll be our next duel to the death match Kurosaki?"

The orange haired Shinigami smirked arrogantly.

Yamamoto stepped forward, looking displeased. "Not that your presence is unwelcome, Kurosaki. But you do understand that you've trespassed by entering this meeting?"

Ichigo started walking down the hall and stopped a few metres in front of Captain Yamamoto.

"Save the lecture for later, Yama-san. I overheard what you said back there and I have some negotiating to do with you."

"_So rude!" _Soi Fon thought angrily, balling her hands into fists. _"Who does he think he is? And how could the Head Captain tolerate this punk's behaviour so easily?"_

"Very well." Yamamoto declared tiredly.

"So you want me to be the Soul Reaper to stop this so called Shinobi war?" Ichigo asked unsurprised.

"Indeed." Yamamoto said, having a feeling that Ichigo had a catch for him of some sort.

"_He's just a substitute Soul Reaper!" _Soi Fon thought fiercely, boiling with anger all over.

"Well here's a change of plan. I found this soul, Naruto Uzumaki, whilst patrolling the world of the living and performed a Conso on him. He's currently here in the Soul Society and I encountered him quite recently. He has an enormous amount of Spiritual Energy and I figured we could do that thing where we turn him into a Soul Reaper. I see potential in him so he could be the one we send down instead! Besides, I have alota homework and an exam to prepare for back at Karakura town." Ichigo scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Very well." Yamamoto agreed, "We shall turn this Naruto friend of yours into a Soul Reaper and send him to the Shinobi world to stop the war."

Every Captain in the room was gawping, thinking only one thing: Unbelievable.

"So do you know where this Naruto kid is now, Ichigo?" Soi Fon questioned icily, annoyed that the Head Captain had trusted Ichigo enough to agree so quickly.

"That's the only problem." Ichigo said sheepishly. "Before I came down here, I was actually searching for him. The last time we encountered, he was in the North Rukongai District."

Just then, Captain Hitsugaya entered the room. He looked quite agitated about something. All the Captain's directed their attention to young Toshiro.

"Where've you been, Toshiro!" Ichigo greeted nonchalantly.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you!" Toshiro snapped. "And it doesn't concern you either." He retorted with a scowl.

"So are you saying that we should send out a search party of Soul Reapers to find him?" Captain Ukitake suggested helpfully.

"Pretty much." Ichigo said, turning back to the captains.

"Can you tell us what he looks like?" Unahana asked.

"Yes, tell us what the boy looks like. It shall assist the Captain's in finding him." Yamamoto ordered.

"Hn, Uzumaki wears a bright orange tracksuit, his hair is blonde, his eyes are blue, he's about this tall," Ichigo then brought his hand to his forehead. "and he grins a lot."

The Captain's all nodded in half approval, many weren't very convinced.

Head Captain Yamamoto turned to Unahana. "Send hell butterflies to all the lieutenants of Soul Society and announce to them what we've just discussed. They shall be of great help in assisting us to track down this soul, Naruto."

"But other than that, you are all free to leave. If any of you finds Naruto, bring him here to me. Toshiro stay behind. Dismissed."

**Quick Quiz: Should Naruto….**

**A) Be able to perform ninjutsu (e.g. Rasengan, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu etc..) except with his new spiritual pressure instead of chakra?**

**B) When the time comes, say yes and agree to be a soul reaper then learn some new techniques?**

**C) Be able to do both?**

**D) Other? (And please say what you have in mind!)**

**Tell me your answers via review & please be quick because I'll need this for the next chapter, unless you'd prefer me to make the decisions! **

**And finally, Thank You unknown ray for being such a loyal reviewer of mine! (: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)**


	5. Accepting a Challenge

**Accepting a Challenge**

**A/N: Thank you to those who contributed with their selection or ideas on the Quick Quiz. I'll take them all into account when the time is right! In the meanwhile, this chapter is almost like a filler. The purpose is to introduce more characters to Naruto and help him understand Zanpakutos a lil better. Or maybe even more? Or am I just lying? Read & find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach.**

**:: oOo :: Chapter four :: oOo ::**

Ikkaku sat on his back lazily with his hands behind his head and a relaxed expression plastered over his tan face. His zanpakuto Hōzukimaru was lying rigidly in its sheath on the ground.

"_I should probably start my patrol around the North Rukongai District. After all, there's a certain soul us lieutenants are assigned to track down…" _A mischievous smirk fell over Ikkaku's face as he stood up and lifted up his Zanpakuto.

"May I join?" Third seat Yumichika asked, emerging from around a corner and smirking too. He flicked his hair and sighed.

"Really, I wouldn't be interested," Yumichika grunted and flicked his dark violet hair once again, then pulled at his orange neck collar. "But lately it's been getting so damn boring here in the Soul society! I'm sure old man Yama wouldn't mind a gorgeous third seat like me joining in with the fun!"

They both departed for the rooftops immediately, in search for a certain blonde haired soul…

**:: oOo ::**

Naruto gazed out of Rangiku's living room window dreamily, daydreaming about having his own Zanpakuto. He had no idea that beyond her window and amongst those of the Soul Society, he was being hunted by multiple Soul Reapers.

Rangiku was still passed out on her couch and Naruto spotted a bottle of sake in her hand.

"_When did she slip that in? Hn, Rangiku must be having a hangover!"_

Naruto grinned as he decided to take this opportunity to have an early morning walk.

When he finally figured out how to unlock her door, Naruto didn't hold himself back from exploring the Soul Society now that he knew what was going on, unlike a day ago when he'd just arrived.

The warm, gentle breeze gave Naruto a nice feeling inside. He felt welcomed, like he really would be able to get used to this new world. The only thing he couldn't put his head around was how the light blue sky still seemed out of focus and distant to his eyes.

After a few minutes of walking leisurely, Naruto thought he saw something shiny around a corner to his far right and rushed over to examine it. What he saw was…

"_A Sword? Oh wow! This must be a Zanpakuto! I wonder who abandoned it here?...Hey, hold on a second.."_

Naruto's fascinated expression changed from puzzled to fearful. Instinctively his hands pulled back leaving the Zanpakuto he'd found to clatter to the ground. It was like he'd touched boiling water.

"…_.That blade was eroded and spinous….it could only belong to one person!" _The blonde haired soul found himself fidgeting anxiously and sweat was building up on his forehead.

"_This is a sign! He must be near! It belongs to Ken–Kenpy?...Ken..Kenty?...Ke…Kelly? Or whatever that little pink haired girl called him! I shouldn't have ever left Rangiku's side!– "_

Naruto could hear heavy footsteps drawing near. He pulled at his hair desperately, not sure of what he should do. What if he was right and it really was that husky pirate guy's zanpakuto? And what was it doing there? Naruto had no idea where in this district that he was in…it would only be foolish to try and run for it.

Naruto braced himself for the worst, prepared to be caught red handed.

"Oi oi kid! What're you doing here!" Ikkaku yelled at the blonde haired soul he'd found whilst lazily patrolling the outskirts of this particular district.

"_Why do I feel like I've failed to remember something?" _Ikkaku thought suddenly and scowled at the grinning soul with blonde hair, blue eyes and an orange tracksuit in front of him.

"_What a strange fashion they've got here at this district…" _Ikkaku thought absentmindedly, now smirking. He didn't think one thing suspicious of Naruto.

"So, are you gonna say something?" Ikkaku chuckled, then leaned in closer so that he was face to face with Naruto. "or do you want me to force it out of you?" He challenged tauntingly, with a dark and mysterious expression.

"_Boy am I glad that he's not looking for trouble!" _Naruto thought, relived. He was just so happy that at least it wasn't the pirate guy and pink haired girl– "_…Hey…Did he just challenge me?"_ Naruto grinned even wider, more than happy to accept this guys challenge. His fun was about to begin.

"Make me!" Naruto retorted childishly, still grinning. Ikkaku took Naruto's friendly grin personally. He thought that Naruto was mocking him.

"Fine I will! Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeya!"

Ikkaku aggressively pulled out his Zanpakuto from its sheath and got into a stance.

Naruto could only watch in terror as the muscular man with no hair and a short sleeved kimono, charged at him.

"Aren't you gonna use some of that enormous spiritual pressure of yours!" Ikkaku teased, still charging.

Naruto was sweating so much now that he could almost imagine being underwater. "N-no...you can't use _that_! Isn't this just a friendly brawl….." Naruto waved his hands around frantically in declination, but Ikkaku remained unfazed by Naruto's pleads.

"A Challenge is a challenge! GEEEEEEEEEEEEEYA!"

"_This can't be happening!" _Naruto thought anxiously. Ikkaku was only a few metres away from him now. His wooden zanpakuto was a stream lined shape and had a sharp blade at the end. It was more or less a spear that he was wielding. It almost appeared to expand as Ikkaku held it up over his head and continued to venture forwards.

At this rate, Naruto merely had seconds to do something and quick or else he'd be losing his appetite very soon. One jab from that expanding spear and Naruto would be out of the battle.

Naruto was about to brace himself, completely out of ideas, when suddenly an idea so ingenious and at the same time obvious, hit him like a raging Tsunami crashing against a shore.

"_That's right!" _Naruto thought victoriously.

The blonde haired soul twisted around and charged in the opposite direction, misleading Ikkaku so that he had to stop and skid to halt.

"What the?" Ikkaku watched dumbfounded as Naruto disappeared around a corner. "Has he just forfeited like a coward?" Ikkaku smirked. _"No one can resist my wrath!"_

However, Ikkaku's theory was proven wrong when Naruto returned with a Zanpakuto in his hands. Ikkaku's smirk grew even wider if that were even possible.

"I see you've got you've gotten yourself a Zanpakuto. No. _My_ Captain's Zanpakuto."

Naruto lifted up the large sword and rested it over his shoulder, smiling confidently.

"Believe it!" He affirmed, pointing a finger at his opponent.

"Where'd ya pick it up kid?" Ikkaku quizzed, raising a perfect eyebrow. _"I bet lieutenant Yachiru snuck off with it and this guy happened to be lucky enough to find it…."_

"None of your business baldy!"

That did it. No one, not even Yachiru got away with calling Ikkaku bald.

"Nice knowing you kid." Said an unfamiliar voice. Naruto turned to his side and saw a violet haired Soul Reaper with an orange neck collar leaning against the wall behind him. He'd concealed himself so well, that even Naruto hadn't noticed his presence. He winked at Naruto.

"_They just pop outta nowhere!…its kinda like how the ANBU back at Konoha operated."_

Which brings us back to Ikkaku. Naruto turned back to his opponent sensing a vicious spiritual pressure radiating off of him. If Ikkaku kept this up, Naruto didn't know how long he'd be able to resist it.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Ikkaku roared, looking like he was ready to launch on Naruto and rip him apart like a lion.

Naruto was about to respond when a hand rested on his shoulder. He first guessed that it'd be the violet haired Shinigami, that is, until he was met with cold emotionless eyes. At first they just looked at each other blankly until there was a flicker of recognition in the other man's eyes.

Naruto grinned at him oddly, but when he reopened his eyes, he could see nothing at all. His vision was being blocked by something. Everywhere he looked, flower petals. Or at least that was what they appeared to be. It was like time had stopped and Naruto was just engulfed in a field of roses.

"Ouch!" Ikkaku yelped from somewhere not too far away. Naruto corked his head around and realised that there was no end to these floating fragments!

"What do you believe you are doing?" An established voice asks from Naruto's far right. He guessed it must be the strange man who'd appeared out of nowhere.

"I-I was just about to spar…" Ikkaku replied dejectedly. "with that soul over there…"

As fast as lightening, the 'flower petals' retreated one by one to its master, leaving Naruto exposed and shaking in shock.

Some things you just couldn't get used to.

Naruto also noticed that Captain Zaraki's Zanpakuto he'd been holding was no longer in his hands. It was gone!

"_This is so bizarre! I swear I was holding it a minute ago! Where'd it go?" _Naruto looked around with narrowed eyes but the Zanpakuto was nowhere to be seen.

The man rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder once again and this time Naruto squirmed as he hadn't been expecting it.

"….What the? Oh it's you!" Naruto smiled. "And did you see that back there? You know, the pink flower petals!"

The man who had immaculate dark hair and emotionless eyes raised an eyebrow. "Those were not flower petals. That was the release form of my Zanpakuto, Senbonzakura. I used it to stop Ikkaku here, from launching into a senseless battle with you."

"I see," Naruto said, even though he didn't quite understand. "and what the heck is the release form of a Zanpakuto again?"

Byakuya didn't respond for a moment, but after what felt like a lifetime, he finally spoke;

"Come with me and I shall take you to a less rowdy part of the Seireitei where I can teach you about this." Naruto eyed the crowd that had gathered around them nonchalantly. He wasn't really bothered, but hey! Why not?

"Ok sir!" He agreed enthusiastically with a salute.

"_How naive." _Byakuya thought discreetly.

As they were about to head out, Ikkaku approached them and bowed apologetically. He seemed to have obtained multiple cuts and wounds which was odd to Naruto because before Senbonzakura had been released, Ikkaku had been perfectly unharmed?

"…_Could it have been that guy's Senbon…. umm…. Sen–Senbonzapuya?...Senbonzapara?... Se– Senbon – "_

"My deepest apologies, Captain Byakuya-san. My irresponsible actions were provoked by anger…" Ikkaku apologised, which broke Naruto out of his thoughts.

Ikkaku then turned to Naruto and brought out a hand. "Sorry about that. I get audacious when people call me bald." They shook hands and all the hard feelings – in Ikkaku's case – were left behind.

"No problem bro." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head suddenly timid.

"I'm Madarame Ikkaku. What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"It was nice meeting you Naruto! Until we meet again, ey?"

"Yeah!... and you better be ready! I won't go easy on you when I'm wielding my epic Zanpakuto….Believe it!" Naruto grinned, as Ikkaku walked off to join Yumichika and they disappeared in a flash.

There was a flicker of recognition on Byakuya's face. Ever since Naruto had announced his name, Byakuya had been eyeing him suspiciously. And they'd never even met before! It was like he was debating on something Naruto had no knowledge of. And Naruto had a feeling that the moment he'd announced his name, Byakuya's assumptions had been confirmed.

Naruto continued to scratch his head uneasily under Byakuya's intense gaze, until his expression returned to blank and stoic like before. This was plain weird. It was like he'd completely forgotten what he'd been debating on.

However, Naruto thought otherwise. He had a terrible feeling in his gut telling him that the moment Byakuya's expression returned to its emotionless form, a dark secret remained deep within his eyes, so easy to miss if you weren't familiar with it. Naruto had received many of these distorted looks before. Even though Ikkaku seemed indifferent when Naruto had said his name, it still didn't relieve him one bit.

Naruto only needed to see Byakuya quickly pretend that it was nothing to know that it was definitely something. Back in Konoha as a child, many villagers would cast these looks on Naruto, then falsely accuse him of something to the Hokage hours later, having planned it all along and just remembered.

Naruto shuddered erratically.

"_I like the Soul Society better than my life in the Hidden Leaf. Losing Sasuke… being tracked down by the Akatsuki and on top of that having the nine-tailed demon fox sealed inside of me… it was all just too much."_

"What are you hiding?" Naruto asked bluntly. "Excuse me?" Byakuya corrected, trying to look calm as he studied Naruto.

"You heard! I can see right through your evil scheme!" Naruto accused. "I have nothing to hide. Now if you don't mind –"

"WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU ANSWER ME!" Naruto yelled, fuming at Byakuya.

Many of the souls around them gasped in shock and a huge crowd gathered around the scene. Even the Soul Reapers in the crowd were gawping with their mouths hanging open in disbelief.

"Hey man, I don't think Captain Kuchiki is the right person to start a fight with….!" A man from the crowd with only two teeth wearing an eye patch, reasoned, knowing he himself wouldn't go that far. But of course, what would a soul like him be doing considering to pick a fight with THE Byakuya Kuchiki?

"No. Let this fool challenge me. He has seen what my Zanpakuto is capable of. It is his decision." Byakuya said confidently.

"HEY I'M TALKIN' TO YOU!" Naruto pointed a finger at Byakuya, earning him a raised eyebrow from the captain.

"Naruto…"! A familiar voice in the distance yells.

"Narutooooo!" The familiar voice shouts again, sounding much closer by each second.

"NARUTOOO!" Suddenly, the crowd of souls parted to reveal the last person Naruto needed to deal with at the moment.

"_Oh man.."_

"What are you doing here? Kuchiki-san can you explain any of this?" The newly arrived Rangiku asked agitatedly, turning to Byakuya. Her golden hair was still ruffled, like she'd only just woken up when she rushed down to the scene.

"Have you not received your hell butterfly yet, lieutenant Matsumoto? This boy you seem very accustomed to is wanted by Head Captain Yamamoto." He stated.

"_Oh. My. Goodness. I must have been caught up in a hangover to have known the hell butterfly was even there! What could Yama-san want with Naruto-kun?"_ Rangiku panicked.

"Huh?" Naruto grunted, growing tired of all this. "Who is that?"

**:: oOo ::**

**An hour later **

"So I see you've beaten all the other Captains and Lieutenants to it, Matsumoto-san, Kuchiki-san;" Yamamoto greeted, nodding to said Captain and lieutenant entering his grand office.

"and welcome to the Soul Society, Naruto," He greeted the grinning soul in front of him before continuing.

"and seeing as you've completed the task under my deadline you may both be relived of your duties for a week in return." Yamamoto congratulated.

Byakuya remained as emotionless as usual, not showing his true emotions, whereas Rangiku let out an enthusiastic _wooo _in gratitude, having already planned to spend her week off shopping.

"Now, pressing on to the issue…" He grunted inwardly, silencing Rangiku and Naruto from their cheers.

"Naruto. How would you like to be taught how to control that Spiritual Energy of yours?" He asked Naruto, eyeing him wearily.

The blonde soul frowned.

"That's not my Spiritual Energy old man! It's my chakra duh!" Rangiku nudged Naruto in a bid to silence him and his open rudeness to the Head Captain. Byakuya shot one of his sinister death glares.

"Huh? Chakra?" Rangiku asked befuddled when she realised Naruto had mentioned a word she wasn't aware of.

"It's similar to Spiritual Pressure. I'm certain that Head Captain-sama already knew Naruto possessed chakra and that's why he agreed to use him instead of Ichigo." Byakuya recited, saving Rangiku's neck. All lieutenants were supposed to be notified with this information through their hell butterflies.

Naruto flinched at Byakuya's words. _"They want to use me? What does that mean I still have the nine-tailed-fox inside of me, even in the afterlife? Is that why? This is just like being wanted by the Akatsuki, to be used because of what I possess!"_

Naruto frowned and so did Rangiku, finding this all a little suspicious.

"Good guess Kuchiki-san, but your assumption was not entirely accurate. Naruto not only possess Chakra, but Spiritual Pressure as well. It is quite a rare case to obtain these gifts after one has died. Naruto's chakra is stronger than his Spiritual pressure because some of the nine-tailed fox's chakra is still inside of him. That is why he _appears_ to have an enormous amount of spiritual energy, most of which is Chakra."

Naruto grinned mischievously; _"At least I managed to steal some of that demon's Chakra as I departed! If it is attacking Konoha at this moment, then maybe it'll be weakened enough for my comrades to pulverise it!"_

"But of course Kuchiki-san and Matsumoto-san, you both know nothing of this demon fox and I'd rather it stayed like that." Byakuya nodded although it was clear that he wanted to know more.

"However, Naruto; before you get excited about having part of the demon's Chakra, let me tell you one thing. If you want to be a Soul Reaper, then the demon's chakra will only be temporary. As soon as you start to use your Spiritual pressure and Zanpakuto, it will turn into reishi and be rendered useless."

Naruto nodded, understanding the old Shinigami's words. "So I'll still have some of my chakra but not the demons'?" Naruto clarified professionally.

"Correct."

"This is it Naruto!" Rangiku was bubbling with haste. "You'll be a Soul Reaper like me! So what do ya say? Are you gonna join us Soul Reapers or what?"

Naruto grinned enthusiastically.

"Believe it!" He declared confidently.

"There is one catch, young soul."

"Huh? A catch? I don't like the sound of that…." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the old Shinigami in front of him.

"Once you've mastered the arts of the Shinigami, you are to be positioned in the world of the living where you will stop the war within the Shinobi nations."

Silence engulfed the room as what he'd said sunk in.

But there was no reluctance or hesitation in his answer. He was thinking only of his friends and those he regarded as his family. He promised to himself that would never let them down.

"Just you wait Konoha and the Shinobi world. Naruto Uzumaki is back! Believe it!" He declared confidently.

"In the meantime, you have one day of preparation or rest before your training will begin."

Rangiku clapped her hands excitedly, then turned to Naruto with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Ok Naruto-kun, how about we start the day with an early morning shopping spree!" It wasn't really a question because Rangiku was already dragging Naruto along surprisingly fast.

The two remaining Shinigami in the room just shook their heads. "Captain Kuchiki, I leave it in your hands to find Ichigo Kurosaki. Tell him that it is time. He will know what I mean."

Byakuya nodded, but he couldn't help but notice Yamamoto had Hitsugaya's Zanpakuto on his desk? Had he confiscated it from the young captain? And why?

**A/N: How many times did Naruto say 'Believe it' in this chapter? I may have overused the phrase a bit…. Anyway, I have another Quiz cuz you guys are better at making one or two of the decisions I can't settle myself!**

**Quick Quiz One : Should Naruto…**

**A) Have Ichigo as his mentor for the whole of his Soul Reaper training (e.g. Zanpakuto, Bankai, Kido etc.) ?**

**B) Be taught by a different Soul Reaper for each area of techniques (e.g. Hinamori teaches him Kido, Yoruichi teaches him Shunpo, Renji teaches him Bankai etc.) ?**

**C) Other? (And please say what you have in mind!)**

**I don't mind **_**who**_** it is that teaches Naruto the Soul Reaper techniques. But when he comes to trying out his Chakra skills again, I want him to have to start from square one and learn it all over again! **

**Quick Quiz two: So should Naruto be taught ninjutsu again by…**

**A) His father Minato?**

**B) His mother Kushina?**

**C) Both?**

**D) Or the pervy sage?**

**E) Other?**

**It all depends, I might just leave it nice and simple! I don't want the story to get too complicated…Anyways byebye!**


	6. The Start of a Nightmare

**The Start of a Nightmare**

**A/N: Once again I must thank everyone for contributing selections & ideas! The time will soon come when they're included, believe it! And I'd also like to say thank you to the supportive reviews too! They really do brighten up my day! Now back to the present. I might be including a side story soon about The Mystery of Toshiro! It'll hopefully liven up the next few chapters because writing about Naruto's Shinigami training won't be as exciting to begin with…but I am stumped on if I should include it or not.**

**One more thing: Some of the technical stuff about Soul Reapers and how a soul can be turned into a Soul Reaper might not be 100% accurate so don't take anything word for word!XD **

**Naruto:*Grins* Hey everybody! Watzzup?**

**Me: NARUTO! **

**Naruto:Y-Yes princess Yuuki? *Bows***

**Me: Don't forget who's in charge here! :D *Winks***

**Naruto:Whoa, I totally forgot! *Bows apologetically* Ya can take the spotlight now! :3**

**Me:*Smiles evilly* Then as punishment for forgetting, I'll make you fall for any Shinigami I choose in this chapter.**

**Naruto: WHAAAAAAAAT! Tell me you're joking! TT**

**Me: ….I'm not.**

**Naruto: Blah! Just not the little pink haired girl Yachiru! ;'(**

**Me: Mwahaha! It shall be your worst nightmare! :P**

**Naruto:*Cries* Not the ramen monster!**

**Pretend you didn't read this random randomnessXD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach.**

**:: oOo :: Chapter Five :: oOo::**

**A glimpse of the future…**

_Naruto braced himself as his heart pounded against his chest with wrath and bitter furry. He was breathing heavily, a visible rise and fall of his chest. He wasn't going to give up. He'd already come so far now, if he could just pull through a little longer…_

"_FIGHT IT!" Ichigo yelled from above. He was standing at the edge of the deep pit again. _

_Naruto tried and struggled to free himself of the last remaining chain around him. He only had six remaining hours until…_

"_What's going on?" Naruto exclaimed suddenly in terror. The chain wrapped tightly around his torso was dispatching, segment by segment. There was one segment left. When the last segment makes its fall, he has to fight his worst nightmare._

**End of flashforward**

**:: oOo :: Present Time :: oOo ::**

"What?"

Naruto just shrugged.

"What do you mean 'I'm hungry'?" Ichigo barked angrily. "We're just about to start some hard core Shinigami training and all you can think about is food?" Ichigo sounded bewildered as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Pretty much!" Naruto answered hopefully.

"I'm not your servant!" Ichigo shouted, just as the spirit of an elderly women floated by. She gasped in shock and nearly fainted, then quickly floated off in the opposite direction.

"The only thing I agreed on was training you and that's that." Ichigo stated stubbornly.

"C'mon man! I haven't eaten anything since I got here!" A sickening growl erupted from Naruto's stomach and he pouted. "Rangiku's been so caught up in clothes shopping that she didn't have time to buy me something to eat!" Naruto complained.

Ichigo considered it for a moment. _"Well... he probably has had it rough with Rangiku… and I'm sure training would be a lot harder if he began on an empty stomach. Maybe… "_

"Hey look!" Naruto pointed excitedly. "Who's that chick over there!"

Walking by as far as possibly from the two knuckle heads was none other than Captain…

"That's Soi Fon… and what about her?" Ichigo asked cautiously with a hint suspicion running through his red-brown eyes.

"Nothing!" Naruto said quickly, but Ichigo saw the blush sneak up on Naruto's cheeks before he could hide it.

"You like her, don't you?" Ichigo found this amusing and decided to play with Naruto for a bit.

"HEY SOI FON!" Ichigo shouted loud enough for her to hear and she sure did.

The young Second Division Captain shot Ichigo a threatening glare. It sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

She had short jet black hair, with two long braids at the back which were carefully intertwined with white ribbon. Naruto could sense in her mild Spiritual Pressure that she was strong, skilful and deadly. All three seemed fit for a warrior princess! And her dark and mysterious eyes could set a trance on Naruto with just one glance. Her uniform looked almost baggy against her petite figure, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Then there was the katana positioned at a horizontal angle on her back. And she was scowling.

"_She's even prettier when she's angry!" _

Soi Fon had her eyes focused on her least favourite Soul Reaper in the Soul Society after Kisuke Urahara at the moment. And she was determined to make sure Ichigo knew it was him.

"What do you want?" She asked Ichigo coldly. "And it better be worth more than your life depends on." She warned bitterly.

"Oh, come to think of it… I guess I kinda forgot what I wanted to ask you." Ichigo said smoothly then smirked.

"_He's worse than my lieutenant __Ōmaeda__." _Soi Fon growled furiously to herself.

"Ichigo Kurosaki~!"

Soi Fon stopped in mid-sentence and looked at Naruto who was grinning at her. She'd only just noticed the blonde Shinigami-in-training and was instantaneously dazzled by how comfortable and at ease he seemed.

"Isn't that the kid you're meant to be training Ichigo?" Soi Fon asked suspiciously.

"Y-Yeah and what about him?" Ichigo was growing uncomfortable sensing a scolding about to come at him.

"Then wouldn't you have thought," Soi Fon began, her voice cracking as she shook in range.

"THAT YOU'D BE TRAINING THE BOY LIKE YOU'VE BEEN ASKED TO INSTEAD OF HARRASSING OTHER CAPTAINS LIKE ME?" Soi Fon roared furiously.

It was clear that Soi Fon had taken it personally when she found out that Ichigo had been chosen to turn Naruto into a Soul Reaper instead of her. She'd still been recovering from the last captain's meeting when she found out.

Not wanting to be in Kurosaki's presence or his blonde trainee's presence, she left in one swift movement and out of sight. No farewell or warning.

"_Wow! She was like an Angel! Was Soi Fon her name?" _Naruto thought dreamily as he watched the spirit of the elderly woman from before pass by again. Naruto guessed she must have gathered the courage to carry on on her original way after her uneventful detour when Ichigo had scared her away.

"_Man does Soi Fon need to take one heck of a vacation! Her temper is as scary as Rukia's!" _

Ichigo smirked and turned back to Naruto.

"Look Naruto I don't exactly have time to play games with you so let's just make a deal."

Naruto nodded.

"I'll treat you to somewhere for a QUICK SNACK and then training begins. Deal?"

"Deal!" Naruto agreed. "On one condition. It has to be ramen!"

Ichigo sweat dropped. _"Now I wonder why I even recommended this kid in the first place!"_

"I haven't had it in so long now and I miss it so much! I can't wait to get my hands on a miso…~"

"ALRIGHT!" Ichigo shouted agitatedly.

**A few minutes later…**

Ichigo had never been in this situation before in his life. And it was scary. Sure Chad could spook him out sometimes with his enormous appetite, but what Ichigo saw here was UNREAL.

_Munch Munch! Chew Chew! Slurrp Slurrp Slurrp!_ It was endless! Ichigo couldn't even see Naruto's face anymore with the mountain-high stacks of ramen bowls shielding him!

"_Does he have some sorta eating disorder?" _Ichigo wondered as he waited. "And who the heck does he thinks gonna pay for it all? I butted out when he ate his one hundredth bowl!" Ichigo thought aloud. The owners of the restaurant heard him and shot anxious glares. Ichigo must have said it loud enough for Naruto to hear too, because he finally stopped eating.

"Hmgummmghuh…" Naruto muffled out as he finished off the remaining ramen in his mouth.

Ichigo slapped his head and snapped. His patience could only last so long.

He strode over to Naruto and grabbed him by the collar. He dragged him along and flash stepped out of the restaurant without bothering to pay. He was granting the restaurant owners a lot more than money in itself by removing Naruto before he could suck them dry of all of their food stock.

Minutes quickly ticked by until Ichigo came to his destination. It was a deep pit not so far away from Captain Kurotsuchi's experimenting lab. The pit was specifically designed to turn souls into Soul Reapers by Kisuke Urahara when he'd been an active Captain to the Soul Society many years ago.

Following Kisuke's method of doing things, Ichigo led Naruto to the edge of the pit then pushed him in.

THUD!

Naruto rubbed his sore butt delicately and glared up at Ichigo who was standing at the top of the pit and kneeling over. "You're gonna pay for that Kurosaki!"

"Quit your wining and man up Uzumaki!" His orange haired mentor yelled. "Starting from here, you're gonna face some tough challenges, Naruto." Ichigo called down. "So listen up! No matter what happens, you must set your eyes on only one goal. And your goal today is awakening your Soul Reaper powers. Don't forget that."

After Ichigo said that, he turned around and walked away from the pit, leaving Naruto there.

"_Huh? Is this it? Do I have to fight some monster or something?..." _

"Hey Ichigo! Come back here and tell me what I gotta do~!" Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet shook which caused Naruto to fall down. He looked around and noticed that the pit appeared to be closing up. He couldn't make out how wide the pit was now or how wide it would be in a few seconds when it squashed him.

"_What do I do! I gotta use my brain!" _Naruto panicked and braced himself for the worst. It was the only thing he could do.

Suddenly, he heard a distand screeching and without warning, a set of chains appeared from the darkness and wrapped around him. Naruto had tried to dodge them but he'd simply crashed into the wall directly behind him. The chains tightened and he couldn't move. From somewhere close to his left, he heard a sinister chuckle. It rang through the humid air littering the pit and sent shivers down his spine. Sweat raced down his face as he suppressed the urge to cry out in pain as the chains tightened even more.

_Don't fight it…_

The evil voice rasped from somewhere inside the pit.

_You have no hope to survive…_

It continued.

_Let it consume you…_

Naruto balled his hands into fists and his body shook fiercely as he resisted. _"There's no way I'm giving up! I'm gonna became a soul reaper whether this spooky shadow dude likes it or not!"_

The chuckle echoed from Naruto's far right this time.

_Give up. It will be less painful…_

Hidden strength surged from within Naruto as he continued to fight the chains. More were coming out of nowhere now and wrapping around him like pythons.

"_I won't give up!" _Naruto willed himself on.

"YOU CAN'T TIE ME DOWN LIKE I'M SOME BEAST!" Naruto continued to kicked his legs and thrash around like a wild animal, and eventually it worked. It was like the chains were repulsed by Naruto's strong will. Suddenly, the chains retreated one by one into the bleak darkness until only one remained around him.

_You passed the first test…_

The dark voice announced quietly.

_The second one you are sure to fail…_

Naruto flinched at the emphasis the bodiless voice used on the word 'fail'. A cold chill brought him back to his senses as he broke out of assessing the mysterious meaning behind the voice's words.

"I'll pass whatever test you throw at me! Believe it!" Naruto managed weakly.

The voice didn't respond or say anything for a long time, and when it did, its tone of voice had taken on a drastic change.

_You have six hours…_

_As every hour passes you are one step closer to doom…_

_You cannot escape it, your destiny has already been decided…_

_When the last segment of your chain falls, your worst nightmare will become a reality…_

Naruto braced himself as his heart pounded against his chest with wrath and bitter furry. He was breathing heavily, a visible rise and fall of his chest. He wasn't going to give up. He'd already come so far now, if he could just pull through a little longer…

"FIGHT IT!" Ichigo yelled from above. He was standing at the edge of the deep pit again.

Naruto tried and struggled to free himself of the last remaining chain around him. He only had six remaining hours until…

"What's going on?" Naruto exclaimed suddenly in terror. The chain wrapped tightly around his torso was dispatching, segment by segment. There was one segment left. When the last segment makes its fall, he has to fight his worst nightmare.

"_How did this happen? Surely six hours haven't already passed! More like six seconds damnit!"_

Naruto roared in pain and agony as he fell down to his knees and the last segment fell.

**A/N: Yay! Naruto's training has begun! I hope you guys enjoyed it so far & thanks for reading! Just because I'm not doing a Quick Quiz for this chapter, doesn't mean that you shouldn't review! :3 Really, they brighten up my day! :D**

**Naruto:*Narrows eyes* Gee princess Yuuki, would it brighten your day if **_**I **_**reviewed your story?**

**Me:*looks at Naruto suspiciously* Huh? Of course it would Naruto-kun! *winks at audience***

**Naruto:*looks relieved* Whoa, you really are appreciative of reviews Yuuki-Chan! :3**

**Me: Yeah, yeah… go and get me some cookies! :D *pushes Naruto along***

**Naruto: Don't forget to leave princess Yuuki a cookie too peeps! :D ^^**


	7. Dark Memories and Awakening Powers

**Dark Memories and Awakening Powers**

**A/N: Chapter 6 is finally here! Please read and enjoy! But I must first warn you all that the story begins with a sort of illusion for the second test of turning Naruto into a Soul Reaper. It is confusing! Believe it! ^^ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach or any characters related to Naruto or Bleach. I only own the majority of the ideas in this story! **

**Chapter Six**

_Did I not tell you to not fight it?..._

_Did I not tell you to not struggle?..._

_Your six hours shall begin now…_

"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto shrieked.

A burst of light filled the pit and blinded Naruto for a moment. When his vision returned to him, he saw a little kid in front of him.

It was a boy with vivid blonde hair, deep sea blue eyes and a huge grin.

"_I recognise this boy. Because it's… it's me."_

The boy turned around and started running away. Fast.

"Hey! Wait up!" Naruto yelled as he chased after the boy. Somehow the pit had gotten bigger and much wider. Naruto felt like he'd been running for ages when the boy finally stopped.

"Hey kid…" Naruto said as he approached the boy. The boy was crying quietly to himself and wasn't aware of Naruto's presence.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, confused, until he looked up and saw what had caused the boy to cry.

A large crowd of people were gathered around them. Everyone in the crowd was glaring at the little boy, with hate written all over their faces.

Naruto immediately stepped forward and stood beside the boy defensively.

"HEY! Leave this kid alone!" He shouted at the crowd of people, but it was like he was invisible and they couldn't hear him.

"_What the heck is going on?" _Naruto thought. _"What has this got to do with my second test?" _But somewhere, very deep inside of Naruto, felt anguished; even though he wasn't showing it.

Suddenly, the crowd of people disappeared and the little boy vanished.

"_Huh?" _

The pit returned dark and eerie once again, then fell silent. _"Was that an illusion?"_

Naruto scratched his head patiently, when he realised that he was now standing at the opening of a cave now;

"SASUKE!" Shouted a familiar voice. Naruto looked to his side and saw another version of himself, maybe a few years older than the last one, speedily shoot past.

Naruto followed suit and ran as well. The teenaged version of him was much faster than the kid version of Naruto, so it took him longer to catch up.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled at himself. But the other Naruto wasn't listening.

"Come back to Konoha, SASUKE!" The other Naruto shouted determinedly with force. The 'real' Naruto watched the illusion play on, utterly speechless. He watched himself push himself to the limit as he fought his rival with all his strength. It had been his first real fight with Sasuke; just before he betrayed their village and left the hidden leaf for Orochimaru's acquaintance, in seek of power.

"_This was someone who had always been just out of my reach." _Naruto thought as he recalled all the events that had followed afterwards.

The battle soon came to a close with Naruto losing control over the nine-tails and his ultimate Rasengan against Sasuke's Chidori.

Naruto watched all this in silence, flinching occasionally.

He could feel all the pain come back to him, the sorrow he'd felt, it all returned. Naruto's hand unconsciously touched his heart and gripped onto his orange jacket tightly.

Rather abruptly, the illusion stopped. (A/N: To be precise, just before Sasuke falls to his knees in exhaustion, face to face with Naruto when he was lying unconscious on the ground.)

Naruto sighed in relief, only just realising that that part of the test was probably much tougher than fighting the murderous chains. He had to tackle against all the emotions welling up inside of him. It wasn't easy, but thankfully, Naruto's Shinobi training in the past finally paid off, considering that it was a rule to never show your emotions. Although, Naruto had broken the rule numerous times before, he was never one to give up. And today, it was unthinkable.

"_I'm gonna become a Soul Reaper! Believe it!" _Naruto told himself, as his eyes hardened with determination. He watched the shadows as they loomed around him in the darkness with no recognition of fear showing on his features. He could outsmart them by doing nothing at all. What they wanted was Naruto's reaction, but he remained emotionless – something you didn't see every day from the blonde boy.

Then something suddenly struck him.

The part of the test that he'd just sat through had consisted of dark memories. Naruto realised that it was a mental challenge. The chains at the beginning had been the physical challenge.

So what was next?

"Hehe! Hey, shadow-voice-dude!" Naruto teased grinning erratically through the bleak and cheerless darkness. "I've got your plan all figured out!" He declared confidently, pointing a finger at a random shadow. "You're not such a tough guy after all!"

No response came from the shadows, until a huge mass of darkness crept out from amongst the other shadows. It seemed to have a spiritual pressure of its own; one that felt intimidating, bitter and relentless. It sent cold shivers down Naruto's spine. Was this the king of shadows?

_**You seem to have figured out the system here…**_

It said silently, in a robotic monotone, that echoed throughout the pit.

_**Although others might deny this, you are an intelligent one…**_

It continued.

_**Your final challenge shall be a spiritual challenge….**_

Naruto nodded wordlessly, more than happy to oblige.

_**When the Sword of Fate is thrust into you, an over whelming power shall take over you…**_

_**You must resist it physically, like you did with the chains…**_

_**You must resist it emotionally, like you did with the dark memories…**_

_**And most importantly…**_

_**You mustn't forget what you want, young soul…**_

The king of shadows immediately returned to the depths of the pit without a sound.

"_What do I want?" _Naruto wondered, not at all stricken by what he'd just heard. Sometimes, Naruto took things a little _too _well, especially in situations like this.

"_I want to go back to Konoha to live and protect my village and friends again; I have to stop the war in the Five Great Shinobi Nations; I need to become a Soul Reaper to do this; and Ichigo said '… you must set your eyes on only one goal. And your goal today is awakening your Soul Reaper powers. Don't forget that.' So what do I really want?" _Naruto couldn't really decide. So he eventually came to the conclusion that he'd just wait until the time was right, and hopefully by then, he'd have an answer ready.

Naruto grinned as he stepped forward and stretched out his arms.

"Sword of Fate! Come at me with your best shot!"

Almost immediately, a ray of light penetrated through the pit and came hurtling towards Naruto. Before he could blink, it had already pierced itself into the centre of Naruto's chest.

When Naruto looked more closely with widened eyes, he realised that the ray of light took on the form that resembled a sword.

He shrieked in pain and struggled to control himself, until he remembered what he had to do.

He persisted and refused to give in to the mental or physical or spiritual pain all whipped in one.

TWAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

The Sword of Fate suddenly exploded into hundreds of thousands of tiny rays that blinded Naruto and overwhelmed him immensely.

"_Don't give up.." _A soft voice that wasn't his own filled Naruto's head as he struggled.

"_Resist it, you are almost there."_ It encouraged fiercely.

"_You can't stop now, Naruto… you've already come so far!"_ The voice was a female's, quite melodic and ringed in his ears. It was like this person was a part of him, almost like they shared the same soul…

With a final burst of power, the sword of fate began to disintegrate when Naruto refused to give in, but didn't do so without striking him one last time.

_I can offer you unimaginable power…_

_I can offer you a better purpose…_

_I can offer you __**immortality**__…_

Naruto screwed up his face as he shook his head, but his blue eyes softened even so.

"Don't make this more complicated than it has to be, Sword of Fate. The only thing I want is to become a Soul Reaper."

A heavenly glow was cast upon Naruto before he fell to the ground, unconscious and the Sword of Fate granted him his wish.

**A few hours later…**

Naruto woke up to see two familiar faces peering over him.

"Ichigo! Rangiku!" He cried cheerfully, more than happy to know that he was with his friends now and not in that acrid pit anymore.

"How are you feeling, Naruto-kun?" Rangiku asked worriedly, watching him with anxiety and concern.

"Hey! I think he can handle himself!" Ichigo piped up stubbornly before Naruto could respond, not wanting his first student to appear weak and feeble to anyone.

"Whatever!" Rangiku shot back, ready to bicker with this orange-haired lazy ass. But decided to focus on Naruto and turned back to him hopefully.

"Well I kinda feel sorta… different." The blonde boy admitted. It was like he was a completely different person?

"WELL DUH KNUCKLE HEAD!" Rangiku teased playfully, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him tentatively.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" She practically yelled into his ears. "YOUR ONE OF US!"

Naruto gawped for a moment, unable to believe her.

"You mean… I passed all three tests?" He asked confused, scratching his head. Ichigo smacked his forehead.

"Rangiku, do you mind leaving for a moment? You can come back later, I just need to talk to Naruto for a moment." Ichigo commanded.

"Errm, kay? Just don't hog him for too long! I plan on throwing a party for Naruto-kun so we'll need to discuss arrangements! In the meantime I'll be getting the Seireitei's best sake! Byebye!" She squealed, already leaving rather hurriedly.

"Sorry about that Naruto." Ichigo apologised. "I wanted to talk to you privately…but Rangiku tagged along and wouldn't leave until she saw you wake up." Ichigo just shrugged and Naruto grinned, but said nothing as he was still rather exhausted.

"I'm very impressed Naruto. I watched the whole thing and you seemed to have flown through it easier than I did with that damn Kisuke."

"Huh? You were there the whole time?" Naruto shook his head, muttering, "I should have known…"

Ichigo sat down on the bedside chair (they were currently in squad four's hospital) and put his hands behind his head leaning back.

"Don't give me that! Show some respect to your mentor!"

"Some mentor you are, huh…" Naruto yawned loudly and then closed his eyes.

"So I'm a Soul Reaper now? Does that mean I'll be getting a zanpakuto?" He asked dreamily.

"_I hope my zanpakuto will be just as powerful as Byakuya's Senbon – ermm …. whatever it was called!"_ Naruto thought excitedly as he remembered his encounter with the stoic captain.

"Yep, pretty much." Ichigo replied flatly.

"HEY MAN! AT LEAST PRETEND TO BE PROUD!" Naruto shrieked.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Ichigo yelled, equally as loud.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and out stepped Captain Unahana herself. She had a sickly sweet smile on her pale face and masked her true irritation perfectly.

"Do you boy's mind keeping quiet please. Please consider the other patients trying to get some rest; or I may have to take dire actions towards ensuring this,"

Naruto shuddered at her choice of words and felt quite _intimidated _by the smile she was giving them. She was a young lady with long, black hair plaited around her neck, and wore a captains cloak.

"oh and congratulations on making it as a Soul Reaper, Naruto-san. I look forward to learning more about you in the near future." She said politely, and Naruto couldn't help but grin warmly to her praise, before she left the room.

"Hey, Ichigo-teme!" Naruto called to the orange-head seconds later. "What now Naruto?" He questioned agitatedly, losing his patience.

"Well coming towards the end of the final test with the Sword of Fate," The blonde began, a puzzled expression settling onto his face. "I heard an unfamiliar voice talk to me from the back of my mind. It was like it was a part of me, even a part of my soul…" He trailed off.

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows but quickly recognised what Naruto meant.

"It looks like Zanpakuto training will be arriving sooner than I thought." Ichigo said as he watched Naruto's face brighten significantly.

"And I know just the person to teach you."

**A/N: Hope you all liked it! :D It was probably a bit confusing to begin with, but hopefully we got the gist of it towards the end! Naruto-kun is finally a Soul Reaper! Three cheers! ^^ Anyway, I still haven't apologised for updating a few days late,** **so here goes! My reason is… I was busy updating my other story, and I am genuinely sorry. ;'( But hey, it can't be helped! :P Anyway, I decided to torture you all even more with the cliff hanger. Who'll be Naruto's Zanpakuto teacher? Wanna guess via review? **

**Byebye!**


	8. Tenshi

**Tenshi**

**A/N****: Greetings, my beloved readers! I must say how much I appreciated every one of your reviews for the last chapter! :D The support did indeed motivate me to make this chapter much longer….*Hint, hint* **

**Furthermore, unknown ray & ultima owner, Thank you for your suggestions! I agree that Kenpachi should contribute to Naruto's zanpakuto training! :) So I listened and decided that I should include him somewhere in this very chapter! :) ^^**

**Also, Jaki Stratos, you're probably right about what you said about Naruto's zanpakuto, but I wanted to alter it slightly! Don't worry, I have it all planned out, as well as a few tricks up my sleeve! :) ^^**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or Bleach.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

"_I can feel you… you're a part of me."_

"Hey lady!" The grinning blonde shinigami greeted.

"You may address me as Yoruichi since I'll be the one to do zanpakuto training with you." Replied the slender woman. She had amber eyes that were sharp like a feline's, and dark chestnut skin. Her long, violet hair was a pony tail and she wore dark leggings with an orange over shirt. Her arms were folded and her head was held high.

"Alright Yoruichi-san!" Naruto had to clench his fists to supress all the excitement and haste bubbling up inside of him. He couldn't wait to get his hands on a zanpakuto, now that he was a Soul Reaper!

They were standing in the middle of a valley far away from the Seireitei and enclosed by a mountainous landscape, nearby a cave at the far side of a cliff.

After a lot of persuading and asking around, Ichigo and Naruto managed to find a new trainer, who happened to be the former captain of the 2nd Division and former commander of the Onmitsukido.

"Before we begin the training, I have some rules for you kid," Yoruichi began, a mischievous smile emerging from her serious expression. "and the first one, is this…"

**:: oOo :: Elsewhere :: oOo ::**

Kenpachi grunted as he made a move to swat his pesky lieutenant away.

"Hey! No fair!" Yachiru squealed, pulling a face and sticking out her tongue. "Kenny stop being such a big bad grumpy bear like Yama Yama!" Scolded the little pink haired lieutenant.

"Fine, alright!" He said grudgingly, lowering his hand. "just don't get in my way. I've been in a bad mood ever since that last captain's meeting. I could just rip someone apart today… "

Yachiru giggled happily as she dragged Kenpachi along the paths of the Seireitei. "I have an idea! Listen, Kenny-chan!" She screamed, leaping onto his back and pulling at his ears.

"Why don't we go and find boo boo (Naruto)!" She began, smiling devilishly. "I want to play hide and seek again!" She demanded, growing with excitement.

"No." Her captain stated bluntly. "Oh but Kennyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" She argued, pouting up at his uncovered eye.

"I SAID NO YACHIRU!"

One of the Soul Reapers from Kenpachi's squad walked past them hurriedly, not just frightened of Kenpachi's fierce mood and vicious Spiritual Pressure, but also the display of them arguing and he rolled his eyes.

"Look, Yachiru. Didn't I forbid you from interacting with this Naruto kid anyway, remember? Besides, I overheard that he will be undergoing some tough Shinigami training, so – "

"So, Kenny!" Yachiru piped up, "why don't ya pick a battle with him! Then it'll make his training even more harder AND exciting!" She cleverly suggested, a devious flicker in her glowing brown eyes.

Kenpachi also smirked, as he made his decision, approving of her little evil scheme.

"You've gotta point there, Yachiru…. Let's go then!" He barked turbulently. "There's only problem; do you have any idea where he is?"

"I do!" Yachiru lied, as she led Kenpachi on a goose chase around the Soul Society, in search of a certain blonde Shinigami.

**:: oOo ::**

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Naruto shrieked horrifically.

"You heard. I said drop down and give me fifty. And don't forget rule number one; never question the instructor." Yoruichi replied calmly, grinning amusedly at Naruto's distraught expression.

"But – "

"No buts."

With reluctance, Naruto did as he was told and eventually began the push ups. Forty five seemed to be his limit since his arms had given way by this point, and his sweaty face was buried into the dry ground. Fortunately for him, Yoruichi seemed to be satisfied enough with the forty five push ups and decided to give the warm up a rest.

"Get up. We'll have to work on your stamina and strength later. New Soul Reapers usually face this dilemma, so don't worry about it." Yoruichi told him solemnly.

Scratching his head Naruto got up and faced his instructor with a determined grin.

"Soo, are we gonna begi – " Before Naruto could finish asking Yoruichi what was next, she lunged at him with a series of fast punches and roundhouse kicks without warning.

Thankfully, Naruto was saved by his sharp instincts. They told him to block, so he made a cross shape with his arms, then jumped a few feet back, getting away with only a few hits and strikes.

"Yoruichi! What the heck?" Naruto shrieked, at his purple haired instructor in shock.

Yoruichi grinned, as she got into a stance. "What was that rule I told you before? Expect the unexpected? Naruto, were you even listening to me at the time?" She raised an eye brow.

"Well…" Naruto began sheepishly, "…nice weather we're having, huh!" He commented conveniently, clearly trying to change the subject. He pointed up to the eternally blue and out-of-focus, sky, mentally hoping his female instructor would let him have the easy way out, unlike some people…(Hint: Sakura.)

Yoruichi just chuckled, and folded her arms over her chest again.

"Don't give me that crap if you want to get out of this fight alive." She warned teasingly. "I simply attacked you, because I was trying to force the spirit of your zanpakuto to wake up and defend you if necessary. Clearly I underestimated your reflexes. After all, you _were _a ninja." She said nonchalantly.

"Woah Yoruichi, how did you know? You must be a captain here or something, you're so strong too!" He exclaimed, squinting up at her suspiciously.

Yoruichi seemed taken aback by Naruto's praise, so she answered by saying the first thing that had crossed her mind.

"You remind me of Soi Fon, Naruto. She used to always shower me with admiration…"

Naruto froze.

"_D-Did she just say Soi Fon? Ohhhh… Soi Fon… I remember her…" _Naruto thought dreamily.

Swiftly, Yoruichi Shunpoed to Naruto's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't fidget! Stay still while I use this damn gadget Kisuke gave me… I'm gonna use it to force you into your spiritual state. Don't worry, it's just like meditating, except with company…" Naruto fought back the urge to tense up. He didn't like the sound of this place…

"_It better not be like looking into my subconscious… not that place with the demon fox hiding, amongst the shadows… ready to rip me apart…" _Naruto remembered darkly, shuddering slightly.

"Calm down, Naruto." Yoruichi said, patting his back gently and sensing his distress. "I also heard that you were the vessel of the nine-tailed demon fox. It is far gone. I assure you, you won't encounter it in your spiritual state."

"O-Okay." Naruto said, annoyed with himself for appearing so weak and frightened.

"_There's nothing to worry about, believe it! But why is it that I feel something dark and cold coming?" _He wondered.

Suddenly, Yoruichi was all but a fragment in his imagination as his vision was obscured by the display of something far unimaginable.

There was a ghostly mist everywhere.

"Why haven't you called me yet?"

It was that melodic voice again. He'd heard it talk to him in the pit during his final challenge for awakening his Shinigami powers (although Ichigo hadn't really taught him how to use them afterwards). The voice had encouraged him, helped him to pull through, and made him go on. But now it sounded…

Naruto looked up, and was immediately face to face with the owner of the voice.

"….." He was utterly speechless, as it stared back at him with curious eyes.

"I have always been by your side, Naruto. Yet you never once called me. What has been stopping you? " The spirit of his zanpakuto asked, unaware that Naruto was as inexperienced as a Soul Reaper could get.

It was a girl, maybe a few years younger than him with narrowed, calculating eyes, a demonic blood-red colour. Her sky blue lips were pursed and her gloved hands were clenched. She had short, bronze coloured hair up in a perfect bun and a few loose strands served as her bangs.

Atop her head was a crown of daggers, each one pointing in different directions. They were all razor sharp and deadly looking, which made the girl seem quite intimidating.

She was much smaller than Naruto, but had a set of wings on her back, which were enormous. She wore a lengthy aquamarine robe with a single black waist band. The sleeves were so long that Naruto couldn't spot the deadly daggers she hid underneath them.

"Y-yeah," Naruto said slowly. "I can feel you… you're a part of me."

The girl scoffed rudely. "I should hope so. After all, I _am _a part of you!" She informed him. With a single swoop of her wings, she flew around Naruto so quickly that he didn't realise until a few seconds later. His eyes were too slow to catch up to her amazing speed. It was unreal.

"W-Woa…" Naruto stuttered, twisting around to face her again. She grinned and flew below his feet this time.

"_Huh?"_

Naruto was standing on a cloud. Below, he could make out a city, with many buildings, but no people or animals. It was deserted.

"Where am I?" He asked bluntly, dumbfounded.

"You are in your own Spiritual State. It is a dimension you created for me to stay in."

The angel-girl reappeared in front of Naruto in a flash, and grabbed onto his hand. The next thing that happened freaked the life out of him.

She pulled him down along with her as flew speedily towards the city. As each second passed, it got bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until they were rocketing into a nearby building right in front of their eyes.

BANG!

At the last second, she had let go of Naruto and left him to plummet into the building as she swerved out of the way. Cursing, Naruto came tumbling down the unfortunate building, amazed that he didn't feel any physical pain. He came to a halt on top of a different building.

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Naruto shrieked angrily, with a meaningful fist pointed in her general direction. He walked to the edge of the building cautiously, to get a better view, of this so called 'dimension' that he had 'created'….

Everything seemed _lifeless_, like the cheerfulness had been drained out of it. It was dark and gloomy, nothing particularly special. It made Naruto shiver erratically.

"_I could never imagine living here…" _He thought.

Sensing movement, Naruto turned around. It was the angel-girl again.

"_How could an angel be living in a place like this?..." _

"I'm sorry… I had no ide – " Naruto began, but was cut off.

In a semi second, equivalent to an effortless flicker of her godly wings, she was just inches in front of him.

Out of shock, Naruto stumbled back, and with perfect matching speed, the angel-girl took another flight forward. Naruto took one more step backward and the angel girl took another step forward.

This carried on until Naruto was corned against the wall of the building.

"Naruto. Look at your feet, and expect the unexpected here." She told him spitefully.

Naruto felt a lump form in his throat when he realised that they were standing at an angle on the building. It was like there was no gravity in this spiritual state. How else could he have been standing horizontally for so long?

CRACK!

Luck was not on Naruto's side. Unexpectedly, the building lunged forward and left him to fall across the edge. He tried to grip onto something in a fleeting attempt to survive, but everything was out of his reach and the angel-girl was nowhere to be seen.

"_Damn! Where could she have gone? Especially at a time like this!"_

Naruto was falling helplessly for a minute or so until his feet came into contact with the ground.

No. He _thought_ that it would be the ground, but instead, it was something very wet.

SPLASH!

He was barely floating on top of a river, or maybe even an ocean. He could still see the buildings in the far distance, but they were all collapsing, one by one. The current of the water was quite rough and unsteady. Flapping his arms, Naruto tried to stay afloat, in the hopes that the angel-girl would see him and possibly save him.

Suddenly, something grabbed at his leg and plunged him underwater.

"_C-Can't breathe!"_ Naruto panicked, as he tried to free himself from the strong grip on his leg. He flapped his arms furiously, in an attempt to swim back to the surface.

Eventually, whoever or whatever that had him captive let go, reluctantly.

The blonde shinigami soon became out of breathe despite now being free, and started to sink even lower and lower and lower…

"DON'T JUST THINK YOU CAN LYE BACK AND TAKE A BREAK! HOW DARE YOU!" Roared an enraged yet familiarly melodic voice. It must be the angel-girl.

"Naruto, use that nose of yours! This isn't real water, it is a fragment of your imagination! You can breathe." She instructed and Naruto obediently did as he was told, and found that he could breathe perfectly fine to his amazement.

Although he was still sinking lower and lower, the angel-girl stuck by his side and dived down with him. All the way.

"I will let you out of this world, and tell you my name, only if you can do something first." The winged girl said quietly, narrowing her eyes on Naruto, calculating and serious.

"Take this dagger." She instructed, and she passed to him the sharp titanium weapon from under her long sleeve. "Close your eyes." She continued, and Naruto found himself dropping his eyelids shut.

"And shove it through my chest. If you can do that, I will grant you all my services as a zanpakuto and loyally fight alongside you. For eternity, Naruto." The blonde shinigami immediately opened his eyes to stare at her horrifically. She was such a beautiful girl – no, angel. Why this now, all of a sudden?

Naruto shook his head. _"First she scolds me for not calling her… then she drags me into a building…nearly got me drowned… and now this? Although, I am curious to know what her name is…" _Naruto mused, as he looked back up at her, still not made up his mind.

"Just do it. It will be painless for me, as long as you do it. This is the only way."

"A-Are you sur – "

"YES!" She yelled, before sighing.

"Here, let's do it together." She gently wrapped her small hand around Naruto's, and before he could protest, she thrust it into her chest.

"_My name is Tenshi."_

A blast of light filled the dimension as everything began to blur away.

**:: oOo ::**

"_Tenshi, as in angel? What a cool name!" _Naruto thought excitedly, and he rubbed his sore head. He looked around to see that he was back in the rocky mountainous valley again.

"Phew!" He mumbled, and scrambled to his feet. "Hey! Yoruichi!" He yelled, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Naruto turned to his left, and spotted something. It looked like a bulky figure, and something pink, racing his way.

"_Could it be?" _Realisation dawned onto Naruto, as his blood froze. He made a move to turn around and run away for his life.

"Wait for me boo boo!" Squealed an annoyingly familiar voice.

"_Not HER!" _Naruto panicked, and tripped over. His shoe got caught on a sharp rock.

_Yank! Yank! Pull! Pull! _

Naruto tried with all his might to free himself so that he could get away quickly.

"_I'm nearly free…"_

However, with Yachiru being the fastest lieutenant in the Soul Society, she had the upper hand and got to Naruto before he could run for it.

"Let's play!" Yachiru declared excitedly, as she made a dash for him.

"Damn…" Naruto muttered under his breath, as he finally freed himself, only to be met by the little-pink haired girl who pounced on his back.

"Stay out of the way Yachiru!" Commanded a familiar, husky voice.

"We've already been over this. This is my battle alone."

The blonde shinigami fought back the urge to shriek in terror.

This time, the bulky voice sounded much closer, way too close for comfort. Suddenly, Yachiru was yanked off of Naruto's back and a cold chill ran through his body, as he watched his shadow in disbelief. It was abnormally muscular.

"Kid, you don't mind if I crashed in on your shinigami training, huh?" Sneered the shadow amusedly.

Naruto turned to face him, having prepared a nonchalant mask to cover his discomfort.

"_It's the pirate guy!" _Naruto shuddered, recalling their last encounter with the crazy captain.

"What the heck?" Naruto exclaimed. "Yoruichi is doing zanpakuto training with me!"

Kenpachi lifted up the blade from his shoulder, too quickly to comprehend, and directed the tip at Naruto's heart. "I don't see her anywhere around here." He reasoned. Naruto's shoulders visibly stiffened. "Let's get this battle started then!" Kenpachi announced, seeming to look forward to cutting this kid down.

Naruto immediately leaped back and put some space between them. He needed to buy time to call Tenshi. Already, Kenpachi was speedily charging forward.

"_T-Tenshi!" _

Nothing happened.

"_Tenshi!" _

Again, he was greeted with silence.

"ANSWER WHEN I CALL YOU! TENSHI!" Naruto bellowed aloud. Kenpachi was unfazed, as his smirk widened. He couldn't wait to show his opponent how to fight. "Having a tough time calling out your zanpakuto, kid? Well guess that's two of us!"

Naruto ignored Kenpachi's sneers as he continued to repeat the angel-girl's name over and over in his head. _"Tenshi! What happened to our deal? COME OUT!" _Still nothing happened.

Kenpachi had already covered the distance that Naruto had made between them with Shunpo. He flash stepped the rest of the way, and stealthily raised his spinous sword.

RIP!

An agonising pain pierced through Naruto's chest as blood trickled out of the wound.

"_Be hesitant and you'll die…."_ A familiar, melodic voice said, from the back of his mind.

"_Huh? Now you answer me? I think I've been cut…" _

The blonde shinigami winced. Kenpachi's blade was covered in his blood.

"_Listen to the advice you are given…" _Tenshi said sternly.

"_Now say my name!"_

Kenpachi looked like he was done examining his blood caked zanpakuto. "If that blow didn't wake you up, kid, then this blow will!"

Naruto clenched his fists determinedly. He ignored the stinging pain in his chest and the blood that was rapidly trickling down on the ground.

"If you think you can strike someone unarmed, then I'll beat you in this battle to prove a point! Believe it!" Naruto said. Kenpachi just grunted, not really paying attention to Naruto's rant….

"FLY, TENSHI!"

A cloud of smoke suddenly engulfed Naruto, as an air of immense power surged around him. He had this battle wrapped around his finger.

In Naruto's hand was an enhanced blade.

It was his zanpakuto.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: End of chapter 7! :) ^^ So as you can see, Naruto has released Tenshi. Btw, Tenshi means angel in Japanese. :D Thank you for reading & I hope to see your responses via review! :)**

**Byebye!**


	9. A Battle Released

**A Battle Released**

**A/N: Hi everyone! As you can see I'm beginning to update this story quite randomly, even though I do try to stick to the routine! However, being me, I can't even do that. So watch out! Updates won't necessarily occur only on weekends! And with that, my final announcement, is, read and enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach.**

**Chapter Eight**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

"… _don't say that I didn't warn you,"_

"Go booboo!" Yachiru squealed. She was squatted on a rock some distance away from an intense battle raging across the valley. It was Naruto and Kenpachi's duel-to-the-death match. Kenpachi had already managed to pierce Naruto across his chest. But to Yachiru's amazement, Naruto had summoned his zanpakuto moments after, and so they were both viscously exchanging blows between each other in sword to sword combat.

Beside her, curled up comfortably, was a cute black cat, assessing the battle closely with its amber eyes.

"That's it! Hit em' hard!" Yachiru cheered, her eyes widening with amusement.

"JUST WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON!" Naruto and Kenpachi yelled union, as they were both thrown back by the impact of their powerful swords clashing. Naruto gave her a contemplative glance, and Kenpachi smirked inwardly as he lifted himself from the ground. They were both covered from head to toe in dust and grime.

"Did you hear that, kid? Yachiru is giving you a tip for fighting. Your weak strikes aren't enough to defeat me. Now man up and fight like a soul reaper!"

Naruto was still panting heavily as he struggled to get his legs to move from their position on the ground. His dagger-like zanpakuto lay lifelessly beside him.

"_Tenshi, what is the meaning of this? Every time I try to swing my sword, it feels like it weighs a ton! I can't fight with that!" _Naruto complained angrily. He wouldn't be on the losing end of this battle if only Tenshi's dagger would be a little lighter to wield. But unsurprisingly, no reply came from the angel-girl as he began to get up.

With reluctance, Naruto picked up his zanpakuto and fixed his gaze on Kenpachi, who looked nowhere near as beat up as _him_.

The turbulent captain smirked. "What's the matter kid? Weren't you itching to get that zanpakuto of yours to come out? It doesn't look like that now!" He sneered mockingly. 'This kid needs a small push in the right direction. If I try to provoke him enough, he might just show me some killing intent I've been waiting for!' Kenpachi thought.

The blonde shinigami flinched, seemingly affected by Kenpachi's words. After all, he was right. Naruto _had _been excited about getting a zanpakuto.

He wasn't sure why, but Naruto allowed his gaze to linger on the blade in his hands. It was almost compelling him in a hypnotising way. He allowed a finger to trail across its smooth yet sharp surface. It was just like a kunai in some ways. Maybe not ideal for long-distances, (due to its heavy weight), but still just as deadly.

"_What am I sulking about, really?" _Naruto mused. _"It may not be perfect, but hey? That'd just be a waste!"_

His zanpakuto took the shape of a dagger, but weighted close to a ton. It was identical to one of the many daggers with were on Tenshi's crown when Naruto had seen the angel-girl.

"_How the heck did she manage to carry so many of them on that crown of hers?"_

It was black-silver in colour, like every other Shika state zanpakuto. But it puzzled Naruto _how_ he'd summoned Tenshi in her second state. Yoruichi had mentioned to him during training, something about the release states of zanpakuto.

"_I remember the second state is called…Shi…errm…Shicat?...Shi….Shimat?...Shi – Shipat? And what was the final state called again? Ban…. Ermmm….Bantie?"_ Naruto wondered, puzzled.

"_You are nowhere near."_

Naruto looked up suddenly in shock. _"Who said that?"_

Kenpachi was too busy telling Yachiru off about something, for the moment. It seemed that she had somehow taken his zanpakuto and was currently running away with it.

Naruto quickly grinned at the sight, but it didn't last for long. The mysterious voice returned to his mind, even snappier than before.

"_Who else, teme? It's me! Tenshi!"_

"_HUH? It can't be YOU!" _Naruto was genuinely surprised. When did she suddenly decide to join in?

"_Baka! What is wrong with you?"_ She wailed inside his head, even louder.

Naruto just scratched his neck uncertainly. It wasn't his fault that he had the memory spam of a gold fish. Before he could think to say anything else, Tenshi ventured on.

"_There is something you must know, Naruto"_

"_Huh? What is it"_

"_I told you that my name is Tenshi."_

"_U-huh?"_

"_You managed to summon me in this second state by chanting the words 'fly, tenshi' am I correct?"_

Naruto nodded silently.

"_Ordinarily, you would only need to say 'fly, tenshi' when you wanted to infuse my power in a combined attack through that zanpakuto in your hands."_

"_I don't get it."_

"_Think back to when you saw Byakuya perform the Senbonzakura technique."_

"_I remember."_

"_Well because I've been summoned in Shika mode, you may perform a technique like that with the help of my power."_

"_Okay." _Naruto willingly agreed.

"_Here is the hard part, so listen carefully, Naruto. It is crucial that you thoroughly understand what I'm about to explain to you."_

"_Okay Tenshi. You have my word."_

"_My abilities are based on your personality and soul. We share your soul as one. Although we don't have the same personalities. That is for sure…"_

"_What are you trying to say?"_

"_By these simple communications together, we can grow stronger. At the moment, you have trouble wielding your zanpakuto due to our lack of communications. If we can just manage to stay connected during the battle, then I can help you, and the dagger won't feel as heavy as it did before."_

Naruto frowned deductively.

"_But whenever I try to call you Tenshi, I get no answer!"_

This time, the angel-girl frowned deductively.

"_Perhaps it is because when I asked you to thrust my blade into my chest back in your spiritual state, you refused and therefore, me doing it myself caused a disruption to our bonds…."_

"…_."_

The angel-girl huffed.

"_Am I gonna have to do it again then?"_

"_No. That won't be necessary."_

"_Wha – "_

Naruto was suddenly pulled out of his conversation, when he heard a disturbingly menacing sneer.

"You done spacing out, kid, huh?" Kenpachi barked, seemingly more annoyed than before he'd been forced to leave the battle. (Due to a certain naughty lieutenant of his.)

Naruto noted that Kenpachi had gotten his zanpakuto back.

"Well?" The captain pushed.

"I'm more than ready to kick your butt, pirate guy!"

"Then let's begin!"

They both speedily charged at each other at a breathtakingly fast speed. The dagger felt much lighter, Naruto noticed, as he made a swoop to block Kenpachi's blade which had been aimed at his throat.

They continued to fight relentlessly, but this time, Naruto found it much easier than the first time, but still equally as challenging. Maybe Tenshi had been right after all. It seemed that their conversation previously had paid off, and she was assisting Naruto as he swung the blade rapidly.

"_Are you there, Tenshi?"_

"_Yep. And Kenpachi was right. You need to work on strengthening your hits."_

"_Hey! Don't criticize me! How about we show Kenpachi that technique you mentioned before."_

"_Your too inexperienced and lack practice. It would be too risky."_

"_Don't give me that, Tenshi! I need to end this battle soon."_

Naruto broke out of his thoughts to twist around and jump back. Kenpachi had just grazed his shoulder with a light cut, yet it stung like hell. Not to mention his even more server chest wound.

"_Fine." _The angel-girl finally agreed.

"_But don't say I didn't warn you."_

Naruto simply grinned with pleasure, and Kenpachi seemed to notice his change in mood.

"What's so funny, kid?"

Naruto pointed his dagger at Kenpachi.

"Pirate guy, you're going down! Believe it!"

Somewhere to his far right, Naruto swore he heard a giggle of delight, and soon realised that it'd belonged to Yachiru. "You go booboo!" She squealed.

"Looks like you've gotta fan, huh kid!" Kenpachi chuckled darkly before raising his own blade at Naruto.

"But I'm afraid I can't allow you to win, kid!"

Naruto clenched his fists angrily. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto was growing annoyed with being called 'kid' by this crazy captain.

"And I'm Kenpachi Zaraki!"

Without any further ado, Kenpachi unmasked his left eye, and immediately, the air chilled. Suddenly, a yellow bolt of yellow spiritual energy, swirled around him like an uncontrollable fire. The captain sneered darkly as the air around them became unbearable to breath in. Somewhere in the enormous mass of yellow spiritual energy engulfing him, was the shape of an open mouth.

"See this, Uzumaki!" Yelled the powerful captain. "This is the full extent of my power!"

Naruto grimaced, feeling the choking sensation of a powerful pressure, filling the air. One that was demonic, cold and relentless.

"_Raise your dagger in the air, now, Naruto."_

Without hesitation, Naruto obediently did as he was told.

"_And when I say, slam it to the ground with ALL your strength. Any less and it won't work, even with the aid of my own power…"_

A flicker of determination crossed Naruto's blue eyes as he readied himself for what he was about to do.

"… _1… 2…3! Now!"_

Concentrating deeply, Naruto focused all his strength to the dagger as it descended to the ground in a flash.

"DESCEND, TENSHI!"

The sheer speed of how long it took from being held in the air to suddenly connect to the ground was astounding.

Naruto realised that it have been Tenshi's power as well, considering that she was breathtakingly fast when he'd visited her in his spiritual state. She must have been controlling his movements to intensify them.

Because not just the speed, but the destruction that the single dagger had caused was _surreal_.

SLAM! BOOM! TWANG!

The earth at their feet, split. The impact of the split sent shockwaves like major earthquakes, taking down mountains within seconds. The ground grumbled in protest as it cracked and shattered like a ripple in a river.

Naruto, rooted to the spot, kneeled in his own crater. Sweat rolled down his forehead rapidly. It had not been easy. That was for sure.

Panting, he assessed the destruction he'd caused. His dagger-like zanpakuto was wedged in the ground at his feet. Beginning from its tip was the split which was now parting the valley in half. He couldn't begin to imagine how deep it was.

"_How… this sort of destruction reminds me of Sakura, with her monstrous strength!"_

As Naruto lifted his gaze, he spotted a limp figure, hunched at the very end of the split. He couldn't make out the person very well because there were too many dust clouds obscuring his vision.

Then suddenly, a sinister chuckle rang through the air, sending chills down the blonde shinigami's spine. _"Did I defeat him?"_

The hunched figure took a couple of steps forward, making sure to miss the unruly split, like a zombie, allowing Naruto a better view.

Naruto's breath hitched in his throat when he realised that the person was bleeding rapidly.

"… Is that all you've got, Uzumaki?"

The blonde shinigami tensed. So it was Kenpachi after all.

"You caught me off guard, Uzumaki. But an injury like this isn't going to stop me from defeating you – "

Before Kenpachi could finish his words, someone cut him off.

"I believe that is enough, Captain Kenpachi."

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief, whereas Kenpachi simply grunted, clearly in disapproval.

"You came back! Yoruichi-san!"

The slender woman who'd appeared out of nowhere, nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"Don't interfere, princess."

Kenpachi was already advancing towards Naruto fiercely, but before he could take another step, she intercepted by using shunpo to reappear right in front of him, with an arm out stretched.

"Stop, and think over your actions, Kenpachi. The last thing Yamamoto needs is you getting this boy killed. There is a reason why he was chosen for the mission you would no doubt ruin, with your thirst for battle," She stated calmly.

This seemed to have made the captain snap back to his senses for a moment. "and please put your eye patch back on. I don't like the effect it has on you, either. Your senses seem to become even more mixed up when that thing is off. Can't you see how injured you are? Is this extent of you pride, Kenpachi?"

Although he was reluctant, Kenpachi listened, grudgingly even so. He muttered something about needing to check on Yachiru before turning around and beginning to walk away.

"You have a way with words, Yoruichi-san…." Naruto pointed out, although it was ironic coming from him.

She simply nodded dismissively.

Naruto scratched his head, contemplating on if he should thank Kenpachi for the battle. Although it had been extremely exhausting and relentless, he was glad, for he had benefited from it. Not only had the battle helped him to use his zanpakuto but it had helped him to strengthen his bonds with Tenshi.

"Hey! WAIT UP KENPACHI!"

The wounded captain stopped, but didn't turn around.

"What do you want, Uzumaki?" He barked menacingly. "Unless you didn't notice, the party's over." Kenpachi smirked. 'My job here is done. I helped the kid use his sword, even if I did get a little carried away towards the end. What's the problem now?'

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously before he spoke.

"I just wanted to say that I appreciated our battle. It was thrilling and benefited to my training as well! Believe it!"

Kenpachi sneered, then inclined his head in approval, before walked away. Out from behind a rock that had managed to survive Naruto's Shika attack, Yachiru jumped out and hopped onto his back, waving goodbye too.

"Goodnight booboo! Sweet dreams kitty kat!" She squealed, her voice growing fainter as they flash stepped away.

Naruto shook his head, as he thought, _"…I can't wait to fight some more soul reapers! I wonder who my next opponent will be?" _Naruto grinned enthusiastically, as he allowed all the exhaustion to take over his body as he collapsed, dignity or no dignity!

**A/N: So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, so review my friends! :D**

**Anyone wanna guess who'll be Naruto's next opponent? Anyone wanna have a vote? Then go to the poll on my profile page to vote for the next Soul Reaper you want Naruto to battle against! :D**

**Furthermore, i'm only planning on spending two or three more chapters on Naruto's training, simply because he's got a zanpakuto now. **

**What else is there, huh? ^^ :) *Wink, wink***

**Don't forget to either review or vote or both please!**

**Byebye!**


	10. Wind Style: Rasengan

**Wind Style: Rasengan!**

**A/N: Waazzup guys! :) The wait is finally over! And as you've all been waiting for, here is chapter 9! :D I'm sorry for neglecting this story… but now it's time for some real action! Predestined-Style! :P ^^ Anyway, I just wanted to alert you all that some of the information and explanations in this chapter may come fast, so take a moment to absorb the information and make sure you thoroughly understand it. If there is anything you're uncertain of, please state any concerns via review or PM. Thank you! :P**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) belong to me, but anything Bleach related belongs to** **Tite Kubo.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine <strong>

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

The next morning, Rangiku hurried towards her barracks with an unorganised stack of reports hidden underneath the folds of her kimono. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she finally arrived at the door to her captain's office. He didn't appear to be there when she peeked inside. Hastily, she ran to his desk and plonked the reports down.

"Phew… I made it without being caught!" She chirped happily. "Now it's time for sake with lieutenant Kira!"

Just as she was about to leave the office, a cold voice stopped her.

"Matsumoto."

In response, the amber-haired lieutenant yelped in surprise and spun around.

"T-Toshiro-kun! Don't ever scare me like that again!"

Standing in the doorway was the short, silver-haired captain. And he didn't look impressed.

"Why are you in my office?" He demanded with a strained voice, ignoring her frightened expression.

"I-I was just… um…. Cleaning!" She squeaked quickly. "That's it! I was cleaning!" She declared.

"Cleaning?" Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think I'd believe that dumb excuse, huh?"

Rangiku chuckled uncertainly, clearly anxious as she chose her next words carefully.

"Captain…. May I ask you something before you scold me about handing in the reports late?" Her tone had changed to serious.

She was aware that her captain already knew why she'd been sneaking around there. And it was a question she'd needed to ask him for a while now.

An irritated vein popped on the silver-haired prodigy's head, but it wasn't much of a surprise considering that this was Rangiku and her lazy antics. But he was at the same time interested to hear what she had to say. It seemed important.

"Very well… begin."

She fidgeted nervously under his cold gaze. "A few nights ago, me and the Uzumaki boy I'm sure you've heard of before, came to your office. I assume you were at a captains meeting because in your place was an ice illusion."

Silence.

"It occurred to me that you did it for the purpose of extra security, but when your zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru came out of nowhere and attacked us, my views changed. Somehow, Naruto managed to defeat Hyorinmaru and send him away."

Toshiro's cold expression hardened. He clenched his fists angrily.

"What were you trying to hide?" Rangiku demanded fiercely.

"Nothing that concerns you." The short captain replied stubbornly.

"Toshiro-kun!"

"Don't get in my way, Rangiku. I have no need to involve you in this."

"If you're not willing to tell me, then I'll just have to find out for myself." Rangiku stated coldly, and with that, she left the office.

* * *

><p>:: oOo ::<p>

Head captain Yamamoto lifted up his head slightly in acknowledgement to the Shinigami before him.

"Captain Kuchiki, what brings you here?" The old man asked, clearly disinterested. However his impassive expression never faltered or showed any signs of it.

"Yamamoto-sama. I am here because there is a matter that I must discuss with you." Byakuya responded emotionlessly.

Yamamoto nodded once for Byakuya to state what was on his mind.

"What is the situation with Uzumaki Naruto? There has been news that he is now a soul reaper and can summon his zanpakuto. I have even heard that he beat Captain Kenpachi in battle." The stoic captain stated quietly.

"Given the fact that Kurosaki Ichigo and Shihoen Yoruichi have both contributed to training the boy, I should hope so, Captain Kuchiki." The older man said bluntly.

"Then how is the situation in the world of the living? Will that boy Naruto alone be able to stop the war within the Shinobi nations?" Byakuya pushed. Even though he sure that Naruto was powerful and strong, it seemed that his intelligence suffered… many misfortunes, considering the way he acted the last time they'd encountered. He didn't want it to be a sincere mistake sending the boy out.

"I have no doubt that the boy will be able to, and at the same time prove himself worthy of the honours of being a Shinigami."

"Why so?"

Yamamoto closed his eyes for a moment, before reopening then with a weary expression.

"Kuchiki-san, I believe you should learn more about that boy. He was once a ninja in the Shinobi world. In fact, he had been among those fighting in the current war."

Byakuya seemed slightly interested by what he'd just heard, and wanted to press even further, but knew that he should stop. The rest he'd just have to find out for himself.

"I understand." The dark haired captain bowed respectively, beginning to walk out of the grand office.

"Before you leave, Captain Kuchiki, would you mind fetching Captain Hitsugaya? It is quite urgent."

* * *

><p>:: oOo ::<p>

Once again, a certain blonde haired shinigami was in squad four's hospital. His wounds from the battle with Kenpachi were all bandaged and healing at a progressive rate.

"_What should I do now? Pester Tenshi?" _Naruto wondered with a snicker as he stared at the immaculate ceiling above his head and hooked his hands behind his head.

"_I HEARD THAT, BAKA!" _

Naruto nearly fell out of the bed.

"_Huh?...Oh, I sorta forgot about you being able to overhear my thoughts."_

"_WHAT? You've been doing this all day!"_

Naruto shrugged. _"I guess."_

There was a gentle knock on the hospital door then, before it opened.

"I'm here to deliver your lunch, Naruto-san." Announced the seventh seat of squad four, Hanataro Yamada.

The blonde shinigami's eyes widened. "Is it ramen? Please tell me its ramen!"

Hanataro shot Naruto a questioning glance.

"Huh? You already knew it was rame – Ahhhhhh!"

Poor Hanataro didn't stand a chance. In the blink of an eye, Naruto had already taken away the tray of ramen for the squad member's arms and was currently devouring the delicious soup.

"Ummmm! Good old miso ramen!" Naruto declared with a noisy burp, before his blue eyes landed on Hanataro again. The petrified squad four member stiffened as Naruto spotted him hiding in the corner of the hospital room.

How could anyone eat so much like a hollow devouring its victim?

"Hey you! Have you got any more miso ramen? Can ya get me some?" Naruto demanded loudly.

"U-Um yes! Of course!" Hanataro agreed weakly, completely oblivious to how huge Naruto's appetite was. By the looks of it, he'd be fetching Naruto bowl after bowl of ramen before he collapsed of exhaustion.

Just as Hanataro reached for the door handle, the door suddenly slammed open and in stepped Ichigo Kurosaki. Hanataro bowed politely to the orange-haired shinigami – not that Ichigo even noticed – and hastily existed.

"Hey, Naruto." Ichigo greeted flatly. "We've got some discussing to do-"

"Hey teme!" Naruto shouted back.

"What the hell! We've been over this before! I'm your master! Show some respect! " Ichigo really couldn't control his temper when it came to dealing with Naruto.

"_Naruto! Refrain yourself from making too much noise! I'm not in the mood to get another headache because of temes like YOU GUYS!" _Tenshi roared angrily through bared teeth, before she added in a quiet whisper, _"that Unahana lady really creeps me out… if you're not careful, there'll be dire consequences!"_

Recalling the last encounter he'd had with the squad four Captain, Naruto shuddered and immediately agreed as he sat in silence.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Naruto's sudden quietness, but didn't think a thing of it.

"First things first. I must congratulate you on summoning your zanpakuto and achieving a shika level attack. You should know that I am proud, Uzumaki. Who ever knew that you could defeat Kenpachi like I once did."

Naruto grinned and pointed a finger at his orange-haired master. "Believe it!"

"Before I continue, I have an important message to give you from Yoruichi. It's about your zanpakuto. But before that, I must explain something to you."

Naruto nodded once, intent on getting as much information about Tenshi's kind that he could. If he wanted to become stronger, he'd need to be familiar with how zanpakutos are.

"Hm. By the way Yoruichi described your battle with Kenpachi, I'd say your shika attack is wind-based. The ability of your zanpakuto is very peculiar. I think it sounds like that dagger of yours has the ability to summon forth wind, and shape the wind into a huge and very sharp, wind-blade. The wind-blade then slices anything it comes into contact with into half, no matter how big or strong. So the moment you slammed your zanpakuto to the ground and chanted 'Descend, Tenshi', the wind gathered around your blade and shaped itself into a fifty feet long wind-blade. So it would appear that you were wielding an extremely large wind-blade because like I said, the wind engulfs itself around your dagger."

"Then how come I never noticed I was holding a massive wind-blade as well as my zanpakuto at the time?" Naruto mused curiously, trying to remember any of that happening.

"For a start, you're lucky that its wind and not a real fifty feet long **metal** blade! You obviously wouldn't be able to hold it and it would slow your movements down!"

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "You've gotta point there."

"I'd say the wind can support itself without your assistance, and since when has wind been visible to the eye?"

"I guess…" Naruto admitted, beginning to feel like a huge baka. "When did you become so intelligent, huh teme?"

Ichigo's red-brown eyes flashed with a sudden killer-intent, before he calmed himself down. "Having Rukia on my back is hard enough, but now this…?" He muttered, wondering what he'd done to deserve this.

"Enough with your lame jokes, Uzumaki. Now let's get serious." Ichigo said seriously.

Naruto nodded.

"WHAT KIND OF GIRLY SUMMONING CHANT IS "FLY, TENSHI"? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" He roared, causing Naruto to fall heavily out of his hospital bed again.

"Hey, man… I think I've damaged something up here now, baka!" Naruto yelled rubbing his painfully sore head.

Ichigo completely ignored his spiky-blond haired apprentice. "And it only gets worse…what the hell happened with all this "Descend, Tenshi" crap? Y – "

"HEY TEME! IF YOU THINK MY SUMMONING CHANT IS SO BAD THEN WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST I CHANGE IT TO, HUH?" Naruto shrieked.

Ichigo looked around the room thoughtfully, but frowned when he couldn't find any inspiration.

"Forget that." Ichigo said dismissively with a grunt. "Anyway, Yoruichi's message was something about you being useful to the Soul Society with that technique and she recommends if you join gotei 13 after you stop the war within the Shinobi nations, you'll be perfectly suited as a member of squad three…. But of course, that squad happens to be captianless at the moment." Ichigo's expression darkened suddenly, in a way that made Naruto feel as if he knew something that he didn't.

"_I'll have to think about that later…"_ Naruto decided. He didn't want to make any agreements with working permanently for the Soul Society when he had plenty of time on his hands to come up with a decision after he completed their original mission.

"So my zanpakuto's attack was a Wind-based attack huh?" Naruto murmured quietly. _"Wow… I never knew Tenshi was so powerful!"_

"_Why so surprised, huh baka! OF COURSE I AM! Like I've said before; my abilities are based on your personality and soul. I've always been there, Naruto; even when you didn't realise it. That's why your shika attack is wind-based. I adapted to your former element-wind, from when you were a ninja." _Tenshi explained.

"_Ohh… that explains a lot!"_

"It sounds like my Wind Style Rasengan. It was an elemental jutsu I created when I was a ninja."

An unreadable emotion filled Naruto's oceanic eyes for a moment as he remembered the battle he'd had against the akatsuki member Kakuzu when he first used the Wind Style Rasengan.

Countless days had been spent creating the jutsu with his former sensei Kakashi Hatake along with Yamamoto. The jutsu was something that even his father hadn't managed to complete before his death. But of course, shortly after using it, Tsunade baa-chan forbad him from performing the jutsu ever again.

"What if I could develop my shika attack so that it can take on the form of a spiralling wind sphere, just like my Wind Style Rasengan! But in order to do this, I'll have to mix some of my chakra to the wind for the shape transformation and it'll be exactly like my original!" Naruto couldn't hold in how excited he was to do this and get it right. He was even standing up on the hospital bed with a look of determination in his oceanic eyes.

"_It looks like this is my second shot at Wind Style Rasengan! Believe it!"_

Ichigo frowned.

He was aware from the start that Naruto was hardworking and never backed away from a challenge, just like himself. Naruto had a fierce burning passion in his eyes. He was a courageous fighter.

"Fine, alright. But you have a lot of training to do as it is and I don't won't to put a strain on your soul form. You still have plenty to learn as it is, and I haven't been able to teach you my speciality."

Ichigo smirked. "But, I'm sure old man Yamamoto won't mind us expanding your training deadline."

"_Oh yeah! Old man Yamamoto must be the old man I met with Rangiku-chan and that emotionless senbon–… errm… that senbonzapara guy!"_

Ichigo's face suddenly took on a serious expression. "But I think you'll want to master you're zanpakuto fully and bankai as well. That'll have to come afterword though. If you really want to do this Rasengan thing, I suppose you'll need my help. If the whole shape transformation thing involves using spiritual energy, you'll need to master how to control it. And since like me, you have a huge amount of spiritual energy, I'll be just the ideal instructor for that. It's not going to be easy, Uzumaki."

Naruto grinned.

"Don't bet on it, teme! So when do we start?" Naruto asked, just as the door opened to reveal Hanataro again. He seemed much calmer than before, but immediately tensed up again when Ichigo shot him a glare.

"….I-I'm sorry to interrupt… b-but you requested more ramen, N-Naruto…. and I went to g-go get you some –"

"Cut us some slack and quit rambling! And what is this about getting Uzumaki ramen? He has two feet! Let him get it for himself."

"B-but he's a hospital patient… a-and as a member of squad four, I-I'm supposed to tend to his needs…"

"Then do us a favour and tell Captain Unahana that he's healed perfectly well; hospitalisation wasn't even necessary in the first place! We're leaving!"

"_Finally! I get some real action!" _Naruto grinned from ear to ear.

"Uzumaki! Follow me!" Ichigo roared as he leapt out of the room window and begun to Shunpo away.

"Hey! Wait up teme!" Naruto called after Ichigo as he too barely leapt out of the room, leaving Hanataro speechless.

The door suddenly opened and Unahana walked in to see Hanataro cowering away. She fixed a sickly sweet smile on her face as she said;

"Hanataro."

"Y-Yes Captain-sama!" He squeaked.

"Can you explain to me why my patient is not here?"

**A/N: I hope we all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry about the lack of action, but it'll soon come! :D Reviews and constructive critism are acceptable! Thank you to ****unknown ray**** and ****god of all**** of reviewing the last chapter! :) **

_**Notices:**_

**The poll is still open so if you haven't already voted, I strongly suggest you do it a.s.a.p prompt! :D ^^ So far, Ichigo Kurosaki is in the lead with 3 votes! And that means Ichigo is currently Naruto's next opponent to fight against. So unless another character hits the lead with the most votes, it will definitely be Ichigo Naruto fights next!**

**Also, if you have any ideas for another chant to Naruto's zanpakuto, please state them! Cause really, 'Fly Tenshi' and 'Descend Tenshi' just goes to show how uncreative my imagination is! :P ^^**

**Thanks for reading & Byebye! :)**


	11. Declaration of War and a New Creation

**Declaration of War and a New Creation**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) belong to me, but anything Bleach related belongs to Tite Kubo.

Chapter Eleven

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

_"SOAR, TENSHI!"_

Naruto was in the rocky training area, practicing his Shika release with a new summoning chant. He watched in satisfaction as a large portion of the rock he was attacking, got sliced in half like butter. The wind sphere was like a knife, and it had a disc ringing around it like a halo. He was so close to finally perfecting Wind Style Rasengan now!

_"You're making good progress, Naruto-baka!"_

Naruto just shrugged. A month of full-blown training had already passed, like it was just yesterday. And with no thanks to that bastard Ichigo – who'd left Naruto to it as soon as he'd dropped him off at the training grounds – Naruto had somehow managed to get so far into mastering it again.

He didn't know what had helped him the most. Tenshi, or the thought that he needed to do this, so that he could protect his friends in the war. And also because this was his second chance at getting it right!

In all that time, Naruto had finally managed to get his own Soul Reaper kimono, and the injuries he'd obtained in the battle he'd fought against Kenpachi just before his training began, had already healed.

_"I knew it!" _Naruto thought happily, _"… it was never the Nine-tails helping me heal quickly, when I was a ninja! Believe it!"_

_"Then what would you say if I told ya it was ME healing you, huh Naruto-baka?!"_

Naruto scratched his head uneasily. _"Whatever Tenshi!"_

Naruto returned practicing his Wind Style Rasengan, advanced Shika release. He wanted to just get it done with as quickly as he could.

"SOAR, TENSHI! SOAR, TENSHI! SOAR, TENSHI!"

After a long pause, Naruto quickly realised – to his horror – that something was wrong.

_"TENSHI! What's happening?"_

The sphere of wind that was building up and spinning at the end of his blade, wasn't releasing.

_"What do I do! It's just staying there, and nothing's happening! Believe it!"_

Naruto panicked even more when Tenshi wasn't responding.

Then, the weirdest thing happened, and Naruto's eyes widened.

"I… I can't believe it!"

**:: oOo ::**

Head Captain Yamamoto stared down at all his officers, lined up parallel to each other, and all avoiding his gaze carefully.

He let out a tired sigh, and closed his old eyes. "Time is drawing short, and progress is worsening. The war within the world of the living has disrupted the balance greatly, and actions need to be taken quickly." He stated.

No one, not even Captain Kurotsuchi questioned the Head Captain. Because they all could already feel the Soul Society beginning to crumble.

"Now I have no clue as to what great power is being used, but those Chakra-wielding shinobi have created so much disturbance to the flow, that even hollows are hiding in their wake."

All was but silent, and very tense. All the captains listened on with grave faces.

"With their chakra, something has been done, that I cannot explain and have never experienced before." Yamamoto took a deep breath.

"A month ago, I sent down spies – members of the stealth force – to find out what exactly has been disrupting the balance. And the information that they have brought back, may be of great assistance to us."

Kurotsuchi had now regained interest. "What is it? Go on then!"

"Something called, the 'Reanimation jutsu' was released, which is a jutsu that steals away souls of the already dead from our districts in the Soul Society, and drags them down to the world of the living, placing them into the host's dead body. They are then manipulated to fight against the shinobi against their own free will. And they can never return to the Soul Society."

Captain Shunsui shook his head, lowering his hat. "That's one messed up technique. I wonder if it's Aizen who's behind it?" He said, turning to Ukitake, who just shrugged.

"Could be anyone, if they had that kind of power."

Yamamoto cleared his throat. "But you must give the Chakra-wielding shinobi some credit. They are fighting to stop it, by sealing away the victim's soul, into some type of scroll. It is effective indeed. However, problems are still being caused for us. With so many souls being taken away, the Soul Society will eventually crumble, and the balance will be forever lost."

Murmurs of shock, shot throughout the room.

"No way!"

"There must be some mistake!"

"We cannot take this!"

Then finally, Captain Komamura spoke up to the Head Captain.

"All hope cannot be lost, surely!"

Yamamoto raised a dismissive hand. "I am getting to that part, settle down now. We have two choices," Yamamoto said calmly.

Kenpachi smirked, _"I know where this is getting to!"_

"Our original decision was to send out one Soul Reaper to defeat the foe for releasing such a technique."

Soi Fon growled visibly. _"Oh yeah, and I know who it is! That blonde brat!"_

"…. However, now that we know _what _has been disturbing the balance, this 'jutsu', called the 'Reanimation jutsu', and what it does, I have now come to another resolve. There is a way that we can get back the souls that were stolen from us."

Everyone watched on with patience.

"… It is simple. The way we will do it is this – by join forces with the Chakra-wielding shinobi, and going at war with their foe, who has caused us so much trouble. Unlike ninja, we Shinigami have Zanpakuto. Zanpakutos are designed for cutting down hollows, and cleansing their souls so that they can be freed and reach the Soul Society. And that is exactly what we'll do to the souls that were stolen from us. We'll go to the world of the living, free the stolen souls – just like cutting down a hollow – and they'll return to the Soul Society along with us."

**:: oOo ::**

"I… I can't believe it!"

Naruto watched with wide eyes, as the spinning sphere of wind, not leaving the tip of his Zanpakuto, slowly let out a white-ish glow.

_"Wow!" _Naruto thought, _"… it looks just like Chakra, like the real Wind Style Rasengan…"_

His brow furrowed, as he watched it with interest. Nothing was really happening; it was just glowing white and rotating and rotating and rotating and rotating and rotating and rotating and rotating and rotating and rotating…

_"…Gah! I'm getting really dizzy, hmmmm!"_

Then it hit him. Naruto realised what was happening.

"The wind sphere is merging with my Spiritual Energy! It's finally responding –

_"Ahem! You mean MY Spiritual Energy, Naruto-BAKA! YOU CAN'T CONTROL YOURS YET!"_

Naruto scratched his head. "Whatever! Its working now, isn't it!"

A shrill of excitement ran through Naruto's body. _"… Its finally working, I can't mess up now! TENSHI! LEND ME SOME MORE OF YOUR POWER!"_

_"As you say, Naruto-baka…."_

What happened next was utterly unbelievable. And it was gone before Naruto's eyes could even make sense of it.

Naruto found himself having to tighten his grip around the blade in his hands. The wind sphere at the tip of it was glowing so brightly and spinning out of control.

Naruto could _feel _its power building up so quickly, and he struggled to hold onto his Zanpakuto. He dug his feet into the sandy ground, gritting his teeth together in distress.

"… I-I can't hold on… for – for much lo – "

BANG!

Naruto could barely remember what had happened after that. All he knew, was that the wind sphere looked exactly like his real Wind Style Rasengan, except…

Naruto could have sworn he'd seen a pair of blue wings sprout at the sides of the sphere, just before it shot out… and then… it was gone. Gone as quick as a missile.

He had somehow released it…

The only thing Naruto knew after that, was that everywhere around him, rocks were suddenly splitting in half everywhere. Dust clouds were filling up in the distance, and there was a deadening noise of the rocks crumbling and spitting out around him.

Naruto then vaguely realised that the ground was shaking, and his eyes widened in shock, as he watched the rocky cliffs around him collapse and fall. Everything was shattering and breaking apart.

Pure destruction.

And it was then, that Naruto knew it. He'd created something much more powerful than Wind Style Rasengan.

"I… I can't believe it… it's even stronger…"

Naruto was instantaneously snapped out of his trance, as his looked at his Zanpakuto which was returning from a dagger to its normal form.

_"Naruto-baka! You need to get out of there NOW! Or you'll get crushed, at the cause of your own technique! MOVE IT! I don't feel like getting buried alive anytime soon!"_

Naruto quickly nodded, sheathing his zanpakuto, and beginning to panic as he looked around, trying to find a safe route to take, so that he could get the heck out of there!

"_Shit! _There's no way out! All the fallen rocks are blocking—"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, he felt a hand roughly lift him up by the back of his collar, in a break-neck grip, and then he was flying.

Yes, flying.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Naruto shrieked.

"Shut up!" Came the gruff voice of someone who was currently on Naruto's death list. Naruto peeked open one eye, and was met by a head of bright orange hair.

"Kurosaki! It's you!" Naruto didn't know whether to be relived, or angry; but as he peeked below him and saw how high up they were flying, he just so happened to glimpse the bomb-site of a training ground that he'd just been standing in, and feeling relived was the only _sane_ emotion one could feel at a time like this.

If Ichigo had arrived any second later, Naruto would have surely been buried alive.

"Hey you! Teme! Listen to me!"

Ichigo growled, as he quickened the flash step. "Look Uzumaki, I'm only here to check up on you, so don't get your hopes high that you can shower me with that type of crap – "

"SHOWER YOU WITH CRAP? I'M GONNA BITE YOUR FAT HEAD OFF IN A MINUTE!" Naruto bellowed.

Ichigo hadn't helped him with any of his training. More like hanging out with that Rukia girl and avoiding him.

"You're a pain in the ass!" Ichigo exclaimed, then lowered his voice to a growl, "I should've just left you in the heap of rumble."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, TEME?!" Naruto glowered at him through slit eyes, seething with rage.

Ichigo had now landed them near Squad 12's barracks. He swerved around at Naruto with a menacing glare.

"I'm not here to play stupid with you, Uzumaki! Now just shut up and listen to me!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Ichigo anyway.

"How's your training going, then?" Ichigo growled.

Naruto grimaced. Well, he'd achieved something… much more powerful than he'd originally planned for. But a determined smirk reached Naruto's mouth, as he thought of something. _"I'll show this teme! I'll show him my full wrath! That'll teach him to leave me to it like I'm not worth anything! I'll just beat him! It'll be a piece of cake with the new technique I've created! Believe it!"_

"Well then why don't you find out by fighting me, teme! I'm a lot stronger than before, believe it!"

A scarily blood-thirsty killer intent shone in Ichigo's red-brown eyes for a second. Naruto had no idea about Ichigo's inner hollow…

"I'll fight you anytime! I thought you'd never ask!"

_"Naruto-baka, are you sure about this? There's something off about Ichigo… I don't know. I just sense this dark, and misty power, radiating somewhere deep within him… it's like a hollow –"_

_"C'mon Tenshi, have faith in me! I'll beat him, believe it! Didn't I just pull off the impossible back at the training grounds?"_

_"Yes, I admit, you did – but who knows? What if one of those winged spinning ball things is your limit for a day? We can't be sure that it's a reliable enough technique yet, I mean, you've only just mastered it, and even I don't know if you have good control over it yet… "_

Naruto stopped to consider this, but was interrupted.

"You ready, Uzumaki? Not thinking of backing out now, are you?"

Naruto grimaced. _"HA! It's too late now Tenshi! Gotta go through with this battle! Believe it!"_

Tenshi wasn't very pleased at all. _"WELL DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU, YOU BAKA! AND IF YOU DIE, I'LL HAUNT YOU! YOU'LL NEVER HEAR THE END OF THIS!" _

Naruto shuddered at the threat, but other than that, he was fairly pumped up for this battle. Quickly glancing around, Naruto assessed the battlefield conditions. There was a deep slope that led down to flat grounds, giving them plenty of space to battle it out.

"Follow me, teme!" Naruto instructed, as he slid down the slope and landed heavily on his feet. "Over here!"

Ichigo followed, with an air of arrogance in his stride. He took his time in walking down the slope and standing before Naruto.

"What was the hold up for, huh?" Naruto asked impatiently.

Ichigo just grunted, lifting out Zangetsu carelessly. "No point in hurrying. 'Cause this battle will be over very soon."

Naruto didn't like this. "OH YEAH? WHEN _I _WIN!"

"Just shut up and fight me, Uzumaki. I don't have all day. Let's see if you've _really_ improved."

Naruto barely had enough time to pull out Tenshi when Ichigo was already shooting out at him. Naruto held Tenshi in front of him, and set his face into a firm expression.

_"Gotta give it my all and show him! It's now or never, believe it!"_

Naruto pushed off and raised Tenshi above his head, as his zanpakuto came hammering down against Ichigo's. They remained there, sizing each other up for some time, zanpakuto against zanpakuto, trying to be the more dominant. Naruto gritted his teeth together at the pressure, as he threw his whole body against Ichigo's Zanpakuto.

Then eventually, Naruto couldn't take the pressure anymore – he wasn't used to this sort of thing – and had to pull out.

"Rule number one: When you're trying to be the dominant swordsman, you need to learn how to up your spiritual pressure. It'll make your opponent feel like a heavy weight has been added on top, and give you an advantage." Ichigo advised, as he slung Zangetsu over a shoulder.

"HEY! That's cheating! You can't use Spiritual Pressure when _I _can't, duh teme!" Naruto screeched childishly.

"Look, I'm trying to help you here, so don't give me that crap."

Ichigo then didn't even give Naruto time to blink, as his zanpakuto was off his shoulder in a semi-second, and the tip of his blade was suddenly right in front of Naruto's eyes.

"Rule number two: Don't leave yourself open. Loosing concentration in a battle could cost you and your allies their lives."

Naruto could only blink in awe. _"How did he get so fast? He hasn't even released his Zanpakuto! HE MUST BE CHEATING!"_

_"Naruto-baka! You should listen to him, ya know! He's giving you advise! NOW DON'T LOOSE CONCENTRATION AGAIN!"_

_"Right!"_

Naruto grinned widely, bringing out his zanpakuto again. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Ichigo closely. Any flicker of movement, and Naruto would be on full instinct alert.

"This is the only proper way to learn. Make your rightful amount of mistakes, and learn from them. But I won't go easy on you." Ichigo stated bluntly, through lazy half-lidded eyes.

Naruto nodded once, and then, they were off.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

Several more minutes passed, as they did sword to sword combat. Naruto got scratched across both cheeks, and a cut on his lower right arm.

When he peered at Ichigo as their blades screeched against each other, Naruto was disappointed to see that Ichigo had not a single scratch.

For a moment, Naruto got distracted by this, and that was all Ichigo needed.

Suddenly, he had vanished. And that was it.

Naruto looked around in confusion, but he was gone.

"Behind you," Came Ichigo's voice, and Naruto didn't even need to look; he could feel the tip of Ichigo's blade, pressing at the back of his neck.

"Heh heh, you got me!" Naruto said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He had a plan.

"Here's rule number three," Ichigo said, and Naruto didn't even move. "… in situations like these in battle, you've gotta be able to think fast. For instance, if – "

But Ichigo didn't get a chance to finish, because Naruto commenced his plan. "FLY, TENSHI!"

This was the basic Shika release that Naruto had used in his fight against Kenpachi. All it was, was a wind blade, that could blow his opponents away, and slice the ground and any obstacles only in half.

But his 'Soar, Tenshi', was the more advanced version of his Shika release. Although Naruto had been aiming to make 'Soar, Tenshi' a replica of his Wind Style Rasengan, as he found out earlier, he created something much more than that. And Tenshi was right. Naruto couldn't rely on it just yet. It would have to be a last resort in this battle, because he was not entirely sure he could control it well enough yet.

Using 'Fly, Tenshi' would be his safest bet. All he needed right now was to put some space between him and Ichigo, and that's exactly way it did.

Ichigo was taken by surprise by the attack, and only had time to sidestep it at the last second. Naruto was satisfied to see that some of the wind his sliced Ichigo's sleeve of his kimono, but it wasn't enough to draw blood.

"Now we're even, believe it teme!"

Ichigo smirked. "Now we're getting serious!"

The battle became much more heated from that moment on. Naruto found himself receiving many more injuries, yet Ichigo had upped his guard so much that Naruto couldn't hope to catch him again unless he did something drastic.

The blonde Shinigami was just ducking from an attack and poising his dagger out to strike when he suddenly felt weak.

_"Damn!" _Naruto thought, gritting his teeth and jumping back a bit, away from his opponent. _"… I think I'm running out of Spiritual Energy!"_

Ichigo had stopped too, and wiped some sweat from his brow. "Trying to think of a strategy, Uzumaki?" He commented, and raised an eyebrow.

Naruto's eyes widened. _"A strategy! Of course!" _

It was the only way he could win this battle. If he could just gather his remaining Spiritual Energy and conjure up the ending blow, maybe, just maybe he'd have a chance; but how? Naruto could feel Ichigo's strong Spiritual Energy literally pouring out of his blade.

He was just too strong.

Naruto gritted his teeth together, and charged forward, zanpakuto raised above his head. He jumped up and was surprised to see that Ichigo wasn't even raising his sword to block yet. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he held on tighter to Tenshi, and was about to strike, when…

"Getsuga… Tensho!"

BOOM! BANG! CLANG!

It came out of nowhere, and Naruto didn't even think when he shrieked, "FLY, TENSHI!", in a fleeting attempt to par with Ichigo's attack, and shield himself from the powerful blow.

Naruto heard the sound of rushing air, and then something very hot was grazing against his skin. It hadn't worked.

With nothing left to do, Naruto raised his zanpakuto – which had returned to its normal form now – and used it to shield himself from Ichigo's solar fang.

After what felt like forever, it was over, and Naruto was left barely standing, trying not to cry out in pain.

_"Argh damn!"_

He was scorched badly.

_"Naruto-baka, are you OK? I can feel your pain too, ya know! I'm flying around your Spiritual World now, and all the buildings are crumbling! The sea levels are rising, and I don't think I can fly high enough! … Th-The water's reaching me… I'm drowning! No, Naruto! YOU HAVE TO PULL THROUGH!"_

Naruto gritted his teeth together in all his effort to stay standing, but as his grip around Tenshi slowly loosened, and his zanpakuto came clattering to the ground, that was it. He had lost.

Naruto cursed as he felt his knees buckle underneath him, and fell to the ground, face first.

All was but silent for a while, until Naruto could vaguely make out the sound of heavy footsteps drawing near, and then…

"Rule number four: When you fight, focus on trying to predict your opponent's movements. That way, it'll be easier for you to counter them." Naruto said nothing, and Ichigo continued, "…. Rule number five: Wield any weapon you're given as if it's an extension to your arm. Accuracy is essential, but flexibility with your weapon is too, especially in battle."

_"Is this it?" _Naruto thought, crestfallen, as he continued to grit his teeth together in pain, _"…. Just give up? …"_

Then Naruto snapped his eyes open, and a strong emotion, determination maybe?, filled his blue eyes. This was not the end of it.

"I'M NOT DONE YET!"

Naruto ignored his pain and flung back to his feet, scrambling to grab hold of Tenshi.

_"It's now or never!"_

Naruto held Tenshi out in front of him.

He took a deep breath. Then…

"SOAR, TENSHI!"

The tip of Naruto's Zanpakuto was gathering up wind, and the wind was spinning in a sphere shape.

_"TENSHI! Lend me more power!"_

Slowly, the wind sphere started to glow white. Naruto could feel it. He could feel his last remaining Spiritual Energy being drawn out of him, and entering the sphere.

Ichigo remained where he was, looking on with interest somewhat, but not bothering to move his zanpakuto away from his shoulder yet.

Naruto nearly held his breath, as he could feel the last of his Spiritual Energy leaving his body.

Then, that's when it all went wrong.

_"Shit! It's not building up quickly enough!"_

_"Didn't I tell, you, baka? It's – It's not reliable yet!"_

Naruto started to panic, when he noticed that Ichigo had lifted up his sword again, and was beginning to charge.

_"I'll have to break off and do 'Fly, Tenshi' instead!"_

Naruto was about to ward off the glowing wind sphere, when it happened.

A spinning disk, ringed around the outside of the sphere, like when he first tried it.

_"Oh hold on! It's beginning to finish! Believe it! If it could only hurry!"_

Ichigo was getting closer, but Naruto remained rooted to the spot, praying against all odds.

Ichigo was at close range now, and Naruto staggered back, as he felt a burning sensation ripple down his left shoulder.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

He had been hit by Ichigo's solar fang again. He felt a hot liquid trickle down his arm and splatter to the ground.

_"But the wind sphere is still there! And the disc ringing around it is getting sharper! YES!"_

Ichigo was still at close range, and didn't have time to move way, as Naruto lifted up his zanpakuto, a glowing sphere with a halo around it, spinning as quick as light.

And then it happened again.

Blue wings sprouted at both sides of the wind sphere, as it was released, and shot out in a flash, like a blast of a missile.

BOOM!

.

.

.

.

.

Naruto opened his eyes, his zanpakuto still out – but without a glowing wind sphere now, and in its normal state – as he looked around.

He blinked once, and then again.

Everywhere was littered with dust clouds, and the ground looked like a meteor had hit it ten times over.

_"IT WORKED! YOU DID IT, NARUTO-BAKA! YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT ALRIGHT!"_

Naruto scratched his head uncertainly, and cringed when he felt nothing but pain from Ichigo's last attacks.

"That was a good technique, Uzumaki."

Naruto swerved around. But Ichigo wasn't there.

"Teme! Show yourself!"

Naruto squinted and saw the silhouette of his mentor walk out of the dust clouds, and come in front of him. Ichigo patted Naruto against his shoulder – to which, Naruto groaned in pain – but Ichigo just smirked.

"Heh heh, I did well didn't I? I was much better than – " Naruto broke off when he noticed that Ichigo wasn't injured at all. Not even a single scratch.

_"But I was so sure that my attack got him!"_

Ichigo seemed to read Naruto's mind. "Don't beat yourself up about it, kid. If I wasn't so fast, I was sure to be a goner. That's some serious stuff you've got there – uh – believe it, or something." Ichigo muttered.

Naruto wanted to protest, even though Ichigo's attempted commentary eased some of Naruto's disappointment, but he couldn't help but feel a bit down about it.

Ichigo was about to say something else, when he broke off and stared off at something.

"Huh? What's caught your eye Kurosaki?"

Naruto turned around and saw a violet butterfly, fluttering just above his own head. "Eh? What's that?!"

Naruto made a move to swat it away, but it just flew higher.

"Don't do that, Uzumaki! It's a Hell Butterfly. Your 'sposed to listen to the message, idiot! Now shut up already!"

**#Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu of Squad Four reporting!#**

**#I repeat, Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu of Squad Four reporting!#**

**#All officers of the Soul Society, including Captains, lieutenants, and seated officers!#**

**#This is an important announcement!#**

**#I repeat, this is an important announcement!#**

**_#This is an official declaration of war_****!****_#_**

**#I repeat…****_This is an official declaration of war_****!#**

**#... reporting directly to any officers who are capable to fight and in good health!#**

Naruto didn't even have time to listen on to the rest of the Hell Butterfly's message. Ichigo yanked him by the collar again, and Naruto found himself flying, on his way to crash an important Captain's meeting…

**:: oOo ::**

"Are you sure about this Head Captain?" Unahana asked quietly, her face slick with concern. "What if the shinobi disagree to have us as allies?"

"Then we use force. " Yamamoto said sharply. "There is no going back, now, I have made it official. Hell butterflies should be informing all the other officers of this as I speak. This isn't an issue that we can take lightly, Captain Unahana, unless you wish to say goodbye to the Soul Society for good…"

A terse silence filled the bare meeting hall, then Captain Hitsugaya spoke up.

"How can we be sure that this isn't _Aizen _who's behind it? We haven't heard of that traitor or Kaname and Gin in a while. This may well be just a big setup, a trap waiting for us to fall in! –"

"Calm yourself, Captain Hitsugaya," Yamamoto instructed briskly, "I have information from the stealth force spies stating otherwise. Our main concern right now is how this war is affecting the balance. Not our fallen Captains,"

"Then how exactly are we going to launch this operation? When?" Spoke up Shunsui.

"You say Hell Butterflies are informing the rest of the officers of this decision. What if they refuse?" Said Kurotsuchi openly.

"How will we know that it will work? What if cutting the 'Reanimation jutsu' victims doesn't free their souls?" Asked Byakuya, who hadn't spoken up yet.

"Are ya still sendin' down that brat, Uzumaki?" Sneered Kenpachi.

"Silence!" Yamamoto hissed angrily, then sighed. "This isn't a debate, it is a meeting. If you have questions, then you will find your answers very soon on the battlefield. This is my decision, and my decision alone, and you are to follow orders regardless. Understood?"

Some of the Captains just shook their heads in defeat, others retaliated by staring coldly at the ground and growling.

"Dismissed." Head Captain ordered. However, just as all the Captains were about to return to their respective Squad barracks, the door to the meeting hall bursts open.

"Old man Yama! Hold it right there!"

Standing at the door was Ichigo, followed by a battered Naruto.

_"Not again!" _Soi Fon fought in dismay and anger. "Head Captain-sama, do you want me to remove these shameful intruders from the premises?" She asked hopefully, already resting a hand on her Zanpakuto.

"Actually, I don't believe that is necessary. Our meeting was just finishing." Yamamoto declared, even though none of the captains were leaving. They were interested in what the two trouble makers had to say. Captain Unahana looked especially interested at the sight of all of Naruto's injuries…

Ichigo stepped up and smirked.

"I have a few things I'd like to settle!"

"Believe it!"

**A/N: **I know it's been a while, and I'm here to explain why. If you looked carefully, I wrote 'OFF HIATUS!' on the summary, and the reason why this story was on Hiatus in the first place, is because I got quite side-tracked with my other stories, and I was having some Writer's Block towards this chapter… ^^ :D Sorry for the ridiculous wait, and I can only hope that I haven't lost too many followers. I want to try and make this story one of my top priorities again, because I really do love writing it!

Before I forget, I need to give credit to _Rei-Fokkusu_, for the chant that I EVENTUALLY decided to use, and THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ELSE FOR CONTRIBUTING IDEAS TOO!

And as for the poll, Ichigo got the most votes so he fought against Naruto this time round! I'm going to put up a new poll on my profile with limited Soul Reapers to choose from this time that you want Naruto to fight next. PLEASE TRY AND VOTE!

… Oh, and before I forget:

**Quick Quiz 1: WHAT SHOULD NARUTO'S 'SOAR, TENSHI' TECHNIQUE BE CALLED?**

**A) **Wings of destruction.

**B) **Wings from hell.

**C) **Wings of pure destruction.

**D) **Other?

**Quick Quiz 2: WHAT SHOULD NARUTO'S 'FLY, TENSHI' TECHNIQUE BE CALLED?**

**A) **GIVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NAME OF THIS TECHNIQUE PLEASE!

Now although I will try, don't expect me to update as quickly as I used to if you're not reviewing! A simple 'I liked this chapter' or 'This was a terrible chapter!' is all it takes! I don't bite! ^^ :D

… Hope this chapter was OK! ^^ :D

Ja ne,

Yuuki


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